The Bridge


Psa 119:81  I'm homesick--longing for your salvation; I'm waiting for your word 	
	of hope. 

Psa 119:82  My eyes grow heavy watching for some sign of your promise; how long 

	must I wait for your comfort? 



	Ok, so it's not enough to have had all these incredible encounters with 

the presence and power of God. It's not enough to have experienced the tangible 

evidence of His presence as it overwhelmed and equipped to defeat the lion, the 

bear, the giant and thousands of enemies. It is still possible to come up 

against a situation where the way home to that place of victory at His side can 

seem so very far and impassable. Though we've taken the passage of faith to the 

victory stand so many times before, for some reason this chasm before us now can 

look to be way deeper and way more formidable than anything we've before 

encountered. As hard as we look, there just doesn't appear to be any means of 

safely traversing the expanse to the other side. We're desperately in need of a 

bridge upon which we can begin to take our steps, for however long it may be, to 

the other side of victory. 


	If only we could remember how we'd discovered passage in those past times. 

Though the distance to the other side may not have been quite so far, there was 

still this incredibly deep and treacherous obstruction that required 

supernatural transportation to cross. What was it that made it so easy then? Why 

were we able to have so much confidence then in the rock that continued to 

materialize before us as we took our faith steps across the danger? I believe 

there was a spirit of worship that engulfed us then. God had become so great and 

mighty in our vision that everything else was insignificant and about to be 

overcome. Living in the light of His love it was easy to discover the bridge of 

hope that was there to take us across. Though the depths were deep below us, 

there was great security found in the Rock of our salvation and we were able to 

cover the distance in joy and peace. 


	There has been a change, though, for some reason. Desperation and anxiety 

have set in, causing blurred vision and a darkness that makes everything seem 

even more impossible. There has been a compromise in our relationship with the 

Father, a doubt arising about His validity and very existence. We've tried to 

analyze and figure out where we went wrong and where we've failed. We might 

acknowledge His presence, but for us it has lost its significance next to this 

endless struggle before us. Like David, we've become weary from a constant 

schedule of going here and doing this, and there's just not been the time to 

just hang out with God. It's been way too long since we knew what it was like to 

just be satisfied completely by His presence alone. It seems like there is no 

longer any comfort to be found in Him. 


Psa 119:88  In your great love revive me so I can alertly obey your every word. 


	There is and will always be a passage available to us across this divide. 

There are words spoken that will direct us and keep us safely on the way, no 

matter how long and treacherous it may try to appear. If we will remember those 

victories in our past and go again to that same place of solitude in worship 

that had prepared us then, we will be able to discover our needed bridge of hope 

and begin to take our needed faith steps. With our eyes filled with the vision 

of victory before us that His promises describe, there will be no room for the 

discouraging images of doubt that always try to get us to look back. Filled with 

confidence, not by the description of circumstances, but by the proclamation of 

His promises, we'll be able to lift our eyes in renewed and revived hope. 

Surrounded once again by His incredible arms of love, let anything come against 

us or before us and by faith we'll be able to stand. 


	Our bridge of hope will never be discovered in the atmosphere of analysis 

and self-condemnation, but our hope will be "built on nothing less than Jesus' 

blood and righteousness."  At the time when our soul gives way, our hope and 

stay will be in Him alone. 




5/14/04s