On The Collapse of a Bridge

I am writing this column just two days after the collapse of the bridge on I-35 in Minneapolis. While at this point the apparent death toll is not as high as some early estimates, the loss of any life is still painful. Even though it will take months for the official investigations to be completed, some allegations are already being made. Some are asking how a government agency can allow such a structure as this to degenerate into such a condition. What was wrong with this bridge? Whose fault is it that it would collapse like this? Are other bridges in danger, both here in Minnesota and around the country?

We have also heard some stories from some of the survivors. We have heard solemn news of the names of those whose lives were lost. Just today I was told by a friend that his brother had crossed that same bridge within an hour before its collapse. Why do some die, some survive, and others just miss the tragedy?

Questions abound, don’t they? Some may ask, “How could a loving God allow such an event?” Others ask, “How could a holy God delay such an event in the midst of sinners for so long?” We will always have questions regarding God’s unrevealed purposes in events like these. The important thing is that we don’t turn from God, but rather to Him at times like this.

This bridge collapse, as tragic as it is, is nothing compared to the collapse of other “bridges” people have built to cross the various “rivers” in their life. I’m thinking here primarily of those “bridges” people build to cross over the “big river” of death. How tragic it is to see that “bridge” collapse. These collapses have eternal consequences. I have watched people come to the end of their earthly existence, having trusted in a particular “bridge.” Their “bridge” was constructed, investigated by others, and at various times resurfaced throughout the years. But when they came to the crossing of the “big river,” the “bridge” they had trusted in all these years collapsed under the pressure. That is tragic to watch.

There is only one “Bridge,” and its name is Jesus Christ. Peter wrote, “For Christ also suffered once for all concerning sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order that He might bring us to God, on the one hand having been put to death in the flesh, but on the other hand having been made alive in the spirit.” (1st Peter 3:18) There is no other “bridge” we can trust in with 100% confidence when it is our time to cross the “big river.”

Who made the “bridge” you are trusting in? What will be the results when God inspects your “bridge?” Will your “bridge” stand the test at the “big river?” Are you sure?

-Phil Siefkes, in a newspaper artical 8-3-07
(I added the picture)