If I were to guess, I’d say 95% of the information we see and hear on the news and social media is negative. It seems everyone is arguing, fighting, protesting, or blaming someone … anyone … for things they don’t agree with. Having said this, is it any wonder that people get to an emotional threshold where they are pushed to the brink? Pushed to the tipping point? That happened just this week to a friend of mine.
My friend is a great, level-headed guy. While driving in his hometown, he approached an intersection that was blocked by dozens of protestors. The signs they were carrying didn’t make sense to my friend, the driver. He grew agitated, became overwhelmed, then rolled down his window and gave them a “what for.” (I won’t quote what was actually said.) My friend had definitely reached his tipping point. Then just a day later, I reached my own tipping point, after spending umpteen gillion phone calls trying to switch the service provider for my phone. Fortunately, I was able to make amends for my poor choice of words.
I’m sharing all of this to point out that when we lose our “cool” we certainly don’t heal divisions and animosities between ourselves and other people. How will our world ever heal from the hateful rhetoric? Last Sunday’s sermon on “bridge building” helped bring it home to me.
The timing of God’s message is always perfect. I needed to hear and learn how to be a bridge builder. First, we must be aware of the needs of others by being a burden bearer. We must also appeal to God with an attitude of brokenness. Then each of us must take the necessary actions to not be part of the problem, but part of the solution.
How many times in our lives do we put up fences, or create artificial boundaries? In what ways do we hold ourselves back from things that we once treasured, or things that we know we need? There are an infinite number of dips, valleys, and chasms that surround us in life, some created by difficult circumstances, some by the actions of others, and all too many created by our own doubts, fears, or stubborn ways of thinking.
Ask yourself … who needs a bridge? The lost need a bridge, the disconnected believer needs a bridge, and the hurting church member needs a bridge. Jesus is our example of the perfect bridge builder. He makes it possible for us to cross the vast chasm or the deepest trench to help us grow in love, in forgiveness, and in spiritual maturity. Just as the Israelites were crossing the River Jordan to get to the Promised Land, they had obstacles to overcome every day. It’s the same with us. How often is the river one of our own making or design? Take a moment today to think about the ways in which Jesus has responded to the need for bridges in your own life. Who has the Lord sent to be “bridge figures” when you most needed them? People that have shown you the way, and helped you to get that much closer to the Promised Land.
On the flip side, now take some time to think about how Jesus might be calling you to be a bridge for someone else. Is it possible that you could be the bridge leading a friend, colleague, family member…even a stranger to a new and better time in their life, or perhaps, even closer to God?
I want to be part of the solution, not the problem. Will you join me in becoming a bridge builder so we can heal the divisions all around us?
“Let us, therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” (Romans 14:19)
Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries of Pittsburg, TX. She has been a contributor to Bound for Life and written numerous articles published in LifeNews, Christian Post and the Baptist Standard, and is the author of Go Tell It! Debby can be contacted at caryjohnefurdinistries@gmail.com. Visit her at the Second Mile blog at https://debbyefurd.com.
Tagged: friendship, Jesus
