Building a bridge...

One of my sorority sisters shared a great line that she taught her daughter as a way to stop her from overreacting to situations that aren’t that serious or to just move on from something. It’s a simple line and one that I, of course, taught my oldest. “Build a bridge and get over it!” It was a great line because it gave a visual for a process that we as adults tend to have a problem with…letting go. Whether it’s hurt or anger or bad relationships, we often find ourselves holding onto things that only serve to hurt us and not the person or situation that we think should be feeling the effects. As I pondered this, the Lord sent me to learn about the process for building a bridge. I discovered a series of steps that you would need to consider before building a bridge and it made it all plain for me. Immediately a question popped into my mind. Are you willing to go through the process so you can get to the other side?

Okay, God, we’re going in! The first step was determining the construction timeframe. Hmmmmm…you might be asking…why did this one have to be first? I’ve gotten quite comfortable with my pain and I’m not ready to let it go. I certainly don’t have a timeline. I can’t be rushed. Have you said any of this before? Maybe you have or you haven’t but the point is this. We often find ourselves tied to things from the past that keep us from fully moving into our next level. We hold onto those things until they become a part of who we are and how we function. I don’t think there’s necessarily a timeline to getting over the loss of a relationship or betrayal but there is a time to start the process. When God created the world, He had to  make a step to get things going. He surveyed the scene and said “Let there be light, and there was light.” (Gen.1:3 NKJV)  In order to heal, you have to take the first step of saying God, I need some light! Please help me to let this go….whatever “this” is. Then let Him go to work but remember that you have to consider the price.  A part of the construction planning process is looking at your budget. The process of letting go might just cost you some things-comfort, some tears, and some habits. Are you willing to pay the cost for freedom and peace of mind?

Whoa! This might be a little too much but we’ll press on to the next step. How is the bridge going to be used? What’s the weight capacity? How many lanes of traffic or people will the bridge need to accommodate?  What do you mean, God?    All I’m doing is letting go of this hurt why do I have to worry about all this? Sometimes we get so caught up in the emotion and the why that we can’t see the purpose. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” (ESV)  Ebony, are you trying to tell me that there’s a reason why this happened to me? Do you remember when Satan went after Job? He didn’t just stumble across Job,  God gave Him permission and in the process said something really profound…”Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8 NKJV) How do you know that you aren’t being considered? Can you rule out that this hard place that you are in isn’t a set up for your next level? Job lost everything but his life and yet he trusted God and the process and what happened? He came out with more than he started with.  Sometimes we can’t see how something painful can be used to carry us to the next place but you have to keep building. Are you willing to go through some heavy things for breakthrough?

The final 3 steps all dealt with the site of the bridge, permits and the environmental issues that could affect the location. This is the crucial part. When you build a bridge you have to have permits. You have to know where your bridge will start and stop. You have to know what your bridge will span.  Often times, we don’t even know where or when the hurt took us over. We can’t pinpoint when it went from a little hurt to a full hindrance. But at some point, we allowed it to overtake us and we stopped moving.  Can you imagine what would happen if you got on that big bridge in Charleston, SC and it stopped midway and you couldn’t get off? Would you turn around and go back? Would you drive over the edge hoping something changes. A lot of us start working on letting go of things but we get halfway there and allow flesh to make us turn back or we pretend that we are healed when we haven’t really dealt with the root of the issue. We have to start building our bridge on the solid Rock that is Jesus Christ. If you start with Him, you can’t go wrong. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be rain or wind or even ice, but you have solidified your process in the only One that can give life.  He will deal with those permits that try and hinder. He will deal with the depth of the pain around you. He will see you through. Are you willing to keep building through the storms?

We are coming to the close of the first month of a new year. It’s still a fresh opportunity for healing, peace and love to lead off your 2013.  If you are still dealing with lingering hurts, anger, or sin, I challenge you to start building your bridge to the other side. We serve a merciful God that loved us so much that He didn’t want us to stay trapped on the wrong side of the bridge. Instead He sent Christ to give us a way out and a new life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Cor. 5:17, ESV) We are going forward this year…forward into our next level and our destiny. We are building our bridges and we are getting over them!

Be blessed…