Month: February 2013

Lessons from the Bridge

Duncan Rawlinson / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Over the years, I’ve traveled upstate to visit my sister and her family hundreds of times. The best is when there’s no traffic and the sun is lighting the way. That’s when I can relax and enjoy the beautiful mountains in all their splendor.

Of course, the sun isn’t always shining. That’s just part of life.

One of my most harrowing drives upstate was during a nasty rain storm a few years back!  There I was carefully trying to navigate the wet road and desperately trying to stay in my lane as other cars splashed by me on the New York State Thruway. Then I got to the infamous Tappan Zee Bridge that extends for miles and miles over the Hudson River. On a clear day, I enjoy glancing around and seeing the pretty scenery which reminds me of my trip to Alaska.

On this day though, the fog was so thick that I couldn’t see the other end of the bridge ahead of me nor the mountains and water around me. All I could see was the bumper of the car directly in front of me and the occasional car to my left that was battling the fog on the southbound lanes of the bridge. My mind started playing tricks on me, and I started to worry that the other end of the bridge might have somehow disappeared and that I might be driving right into an abyss. The only thing I could do was focus on the car I was now following for dear life. I had to trust that the driver knew where he was going and that neither he nor the cars in front of him would suddenly slam on their brakes and cause an accident.

In that moment, I had to choose to stop thinking about what I couldn’t see up ahead or about the storm that I was literally in the middle of. I had to focus on what I could see in front of me and I had to trust that God would safely lead me to the other side of the bridge so I could get to my family. Thankfully, I did make it across the bridge and eventually to my sister’s house! But the lessons I learned during that trip have stuck with me.

Many times when we’re in a storm, we can’t see things clearly. The road looks so long or too dark. Sometimes it feels like we’re going to fall into some great, big pit before we ever reach our destination. The future looks so bleak and uncertain.

It’s precisely in those storms that we have to lean and trust in God all the more!  He’s the Good Shepherd who goes ahead of us leading us and guiding us to safe pasture. He’s the one that can see the other side of the bridge even when we can’t. In fact, He’s the one that is holding us up all along the way!

If the road looks foggy and unclear to you right now and you’re in danger of losing hope and faith that you’ll ever make it to the other side of your bridge, I’d like to encourage you to call out to Jesus!  He wants to walk with you every step of the way. He really is always just a prayer away!

Hang in there, my Friend! Hear God’s Word for you today, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)

So keep praying, reading your Bible, and listening to all that God is saying.  And be sure to stay connected to your local church. Before you know it, you’ll be safely on the other side of your bridge!

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