When Our Bridges Collapse

Our friend Ruthie loves crossword puzzles. And she hates bridges. So when she's riding with us and there's a bridge, she knows what to do. She covers her face with her crossword puzzle book until it's over.

I've teased Ruthie about this a lot. But after two bridges in a week collapsed in different parts of the U.S., I'm wondering if I should buy a crossword puzzle book. Oh wait - I'm driving.

It's really not funny. One minute you're on the bridge. The next minute you and your car are in the icy water below. Thankfully, no one died on those bridges in Washington or Missouri last week. But when that Interstate bridge in Minneapolis caved in awhile back, it cost 13 people their lives.

I'm not excited to hear that 1 in 9 U.S. bridges is "functionally obsolete" or "structurally inadequate." Fact is, bridges that aren't properly maintained and repaired are in danger of going down.

Whether it's a bridge between cities. Or a bridge between people.

And all too often I've been guilty of neglecting some very important bridges. To my wife. My children. My coworkers. My friends.

Oh, there was a day when I put a lot into building that bridge. I wanted to be connected to their heart. Their hurt. Their happiness.

And I've never made a decision that I didn't care about that. Anymore than I made a decision to let weeds grow in my garden. All you have to do to weaken a bridge is nothing. It's called neglect.

It's not that we reject the people we love. We just neglect them. Get too busy for them. Fail to repair things that break. Forget to hug them, compliment them, set aside time for them. In short, take them for granted.

So God says, "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds...for a crown is not secure for all generations" (Proverbs 27:23-24). If you want it to be there tomorrow, take care of it today.

Relationships, like bridges, collapse when they're not cared for. Oh, the final cave-in may come suddenly, but there's really nothing sudden about it. There's a slow, almost imperceptible deterioration. Then one day, it's gone.

That's why the Bible tell us to "be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry" (James 1:19). When you stop having time to listen, you start feeling the strain, the tension, the distance.

Then comes a jolt that jars the bridge and exposes the damage neglect has done. And everything comes apart. The bridge collapses.

Is it over? Not necessarily. Bridges can be rebuilt stronger than ever. At a price. Doing whatever it takes, changing whatever you have to change, spending whatever it costs to rebuild that bridge.

But it's worth it. To recover all you've lost on the other side.

The collapse of a relationship is a wakeup call. To look where we haven't looked before. Up. Because what I can't fix, God can. Broken relationships. Broken families. Broken hearts.

He promises, "I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts" (Joel 2:25 NLT). And "bestow...a crown of beauty instead of ashes" (Isaiah 61:3).

Sadly, though, when we reach up for God, we realize how far we are from Him. There's a reason. "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2).

We've done life "my way" instead of His way - and left a yawning chasm between us and our only Hope. We really need Him. But there's no bridge.

Oh, we try to build a bridge to God. That's what every religion on the planet is. But they all fall short. No religion can pay the death penalty sin demands. All our bridges to God fail to reach the other side.

That's why God did what only He could do. He built a bridge from heaven to us. Jesus. God's Son, pouring out His life to save mine. By paying the death penalty I deserve. "He gave Himself for our sins to rescue us" (Galatians 1:3).

So the Bridge is open. God waits on the other side with open arms. But you have to cross the Bridge. It's guaranteed to get you Home safely.