When Obstacles Become Avenues: The 3-Lane Kingdom Highway

 Step Seven in the 10 Steps to Restoration

 When Mountains Turn Into Roads

Step seven in the journey of restoration is when obstacles become avenues—when the very things that once blocked us are turned into highways leading toward a kingdom future.

“I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.
See, they will come from afar—some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.” — Isaiah 49:11–12

Whose mountains are these? God’s mountains.
And what an amazing promise this is: that barriers will become pathways, and liabilities will be transformed into assets—so that the purposes of God can be fulfilled.

Mountains or Molehills?

You may have heard of the seven mountains of influence—business, government, media, education, and so on.
In Transforming Society, I call them the ten molehills—because from God’s perspective, they are small things.

There is only one true mountain: the mountain of the Lord, which will be “chief among the hills.”
Yet we’ve elevated worldly systems to mountain status.

True restoration happens when the systems of this world—once opposed to God’s purposes—bow to a higher authority.

When that happens, mountains become roads, and God’s people can move freely toward His future.

The 3-Lane Great Commission

To grasp this transformation, we must rediscover what I call the threefold wisdom of the Great Commission.

1) Ethnos — The Nations (Matthew 28:18–20)

Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
The word nations is ethnos, from which we get ethnicity.

This strand focuses on reaching every people group—not just nations by borders, but tribes, cultures, and families. This emphasis has powered the modern missionary movement.
But it’s only one part of our calling.

2) Eschatos — The Ends of the Earth (Acts 1:8)

The second strand is in Acts 1:8:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”

The word ends is eschatos—from which we get eschatology.
It means the furthest, the least reached, the lowest.

The eschatos people are those farthest from God, geographically and spiritually.

Sadly, most churches today spend the majority of their resources close to home.
I recently visited a church in Nashville that gives 55% of its budget to missions—amazing!
Another in Cairo gives 90%.
But the average U.S. church? 98% stays home, 2% goes to the nations.

That’s not how highways get built.

3) Cosmos — The Systems of the World (Mark 16:15)

The third strand—often forgotten—comes from Mark 16:15:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

The word world here is cosmos, meaning

“an apt and harmonious arrangement, an order, a constitution, a system of government.”

In other words, Jesus commissioned us not only to reach people, but also to bring systems into divine order.

The cosmos includes the structures of society—government, law, economics, healthcare, media, education, and more.

There is no trade-off between faith and order, between gospel and good governance.
Paul said, “I delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith is” (Col. 2:5).
God’s design is for His order to permeate every system of human life.

Reconciling the Cosmos

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5 that

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.”

That word again is cosmos.
Our ministry of reconciliation is not only about saving individuals—it’s about restoring systems.

Imagine holding two things in your hands:

• The world’s banking system in one hand, and kingdom economics in the other;

• The political order in one hand, and kingdom government in the other;

• The world of healthcare or media in one hand, and God’s blueprint in the other.

Our mission? Bring them together.
That’s what it means to reconcile the cosmos to Christ.

Why We Need 3-Lane Highways

If we’re not engaging the systems around us, we don’t need highways.
But when we embrace our full, triple-braided commission—to reach people, places, and systems—then God raises up roads through the mountains.

We can’t be spectators.
We must become reformers.

Whether you’re in business, education, healthcare, government, or media—your calling is to bring God’s order into your sphere.

The Call to Action

We’ve done well at getting people saved and sending missionaries.
Now it’s time to transform the structures of society.
That’s when true restoration happens—when mountains become roads and highways rise up.

Ready to go deeper?

Take the Transforming Society Course on brettjohnson.biz.
The first lessons are free.

Dip your toes in. Learn how to live as a minister of reconciliation—not just of the ethnos and eschatos, but of the cosmos.

Let’s turn obstacles into avenues and see every mountain become a road.