I remember hearing the song Way Maker for the first time several years ago. I played it once and then put it on repeat for a good three days in a row. A few months later I had the opportunity to lead worship at a pastors’ conference and introduced that song to them – I knew right away it was a keeper. The response to that song was incredible.
I’ve been thinking about why Way Maker resonates with people. Why is it that when we hear that piano melody at the start of the song, we have that reaction of elation knowing what we are about to sing? I think it is because we identify so much with it. We anticipate the truths we are about to sing and take comfort in them. That He is here, moving, mending, touching hearts. Working even when we don’t see it. He’s a way maker, promise keeper. Worker of miracles, and our guiding light. That is who He is!
Ezra 6, and the whole story of the rebuilding of the altar and temple, shows us that the children of Israel faced things where they needed the way maker. I don’t know what kind of worship songs they sang back then, but this would have been anthemic for them.
Opposition arose while rebuilding the temple (Ezra 4). What seemed like a roadblock was a chance for God to move and show his sovereignty. It was God who aligned things perfectly, bringing the right leader in at the right time and even financing the rebuild through those who were oppressing them (6:13-15). Even when they didn’t see it, God never stopped working and made a way.
This way maker God has been active and present in the lives of his people from the beginning. We can look back and see how God has worked in the past and trust that God is working in our lives right now in the present.