When the Road Is Blocked

By Danny Saavedra

“And one of Joab’s young men took his stand by Amasa and said, ‘Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.’ And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart..."—2 Samuel 20:11-15a (ESV)

If you’ve ever driven South Florida roads—especially in Miami—after a hurricane, or honestly, just after a random Tuesday rainstorm, you’ve probably seen what happens when a road is blocked. A single tree across the highway stops the flow of everything. It’s not just an inconvenience...it’s utter chaos. Cars swerve, people grow impatient, horns blare, and tensions rise.

Now picture that, not with traffic, but with an army—not with a tree, but a body.

That’s what’s happening in this passage. Joab—ever the efficient, cold-blooded military mind—has just murdered Amasa. Why? Because David had appointed Amasa to replace him as commander of the army.

Never mind that Amasa was his cousin. Never mind that David’s goal was reunification after the civil war with Absalom. Joab’s jealousy and thirst for control overtook any loyalty he claimed to have. So, Joab walks away from the murder like it’s business as usual...but it’s not.

You see, the body of Amasa was lying in the road, bleeding and lifeless. People started to stop—and not just a few people; everyone was stopping. No one was able to just step over it and pretend it was normal. Something about the scene causes them to freeze. The sight of Amasa paralyzed the mission. And it wasn’t until someone dragged Amasa’s corpse into the field and covered it with a garment that the army was able to continue.

Let that image settle for a moment, because it’s more than historical detail; it’s pointing us to something much deeper!

Sometimes we find ourselves spiritually, emotionally, and/or relationally stuck. And like the soldiers, we can’t seem to move forward. But if we take a closer look, we might see what’s lying in the middle of our road.

Maybe it’s the body of betrayal; we’re broken over the fact that someone wounded us, and we never dealt with it.

Maybe it’s guilt over our own sin; we feel shame over something we did that we keep reliving, replaying, and regretting.

Maybe it’s unresolved grief; it’s a loss we’ve tried to outrun but never truly processed.

Maybe it’s bitterness, pride, comparison, trauma, or, like Joab, maybe it’s a hunger for control that’s left others wounded in our wake.

Whatever it is, it’s blocking the road. And even worse, everyone around you can see it!

The solution isn’t always about stopping to fix everything. Sometimes, it's about dragging what needs to be dealt with to the side—not ignored, not denied, but surrendered. Amasa’s body was moved out of the road and covered; he wasn’t being erased, but acknowledged and given rest. And the garment? That’s not just cloth; it’s mercy and dignity. It’s the ancient version of what Jesus does for us—covering our shame, our wounds, our failures with His righteousness. This isn’t done so that we can pretend nothing happened, but so we can finally walk forward in grace.

Joab may have moved the mission forward, but his methods were a mess. The kingdom needed unity, not more bloodshed. The people of Israel needed justice, not just results—a common issue with Joab. And yet, God still sovereignly worked, even through the fractured leadership and compromised motives of man—and he’s doing the same today!

This is where the gospel shines brighter than Joab’s shadowy leadership. Where Joab destroyed to maintain power, Jesus laid down His life to bring peace. Where Joab left a body bleeding in the road, Jesus became the body broken and poured out for us—so our guilt and sin wouldn’t block the road anymore. He wasn’t dragged aside and covered with a garment. He was lifted up on a cross, bearing our shame and paying the cost in full. And now, because of His resurrection, the road to God is cleared forever.

So, what’s lying in your road today? What needs to be acknowledged, addressed, surrendered, and covered in the grace of Christ? What sin, wound, regret, or unhealed story is stopping the progress of God's work in your life? What needs to be brought to the cross?

The cross is where Jesus takes the full weight of our sin and shame. That’s where our mess doesn’t get swept under a rug, but placed on His shoulders. That’s where our guilt gets buried in the tomb and our healing begins. That’s where we stop pretending and start moving again.

Pause: What’s lying in the road of your life today—something you’ve tried to ignore, but it keeps blocking your path?

Practice: Write it down, name it, and then symbolically “carry it to the field”—bring it to Jesus in prayer. Ask Him to cover it with His grace, not to excuse it but to redeem it.

Pray: Heavenly Father, I’ve tried to move forward, but there’s something in the way. Show me what I’ve been stepping over or avoiding. Help me bring it to You. Cover me in Your mercy, heal what I’ve buried, and lead me into the next step of faith. I trust You to clear the road. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.