No Way to Get Across (When the Bridge Collapses!)

A couple of weeks ago, Kim and I were traveling north on Route 95, going through Baltimore, MD. As we looked to our right, we could see in the not too far distance the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. It was an amazing sight. After all, it’s not every day one sees a bridge with a huge gap in the middle and no way to get across.  

As you may remember, on March 26 a huge cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore causing the collapse of the bridge. Six workers who were fixing potholes on the bridge lost their lives. It was a terrible tragedy. And, it’s going to take quite some time and a lot of money to fix the bridge and reconnect the two sides of the channel that were once connected by the bridge. In the meantime, there is no way to get across.  

Have you ever reached a point in your life where it just felt like that—i.e., as if there was no way to get across? You have a sense of where you need to get to, but it’s as if the bridge before you has collapsed; the road is gone and the way has been take out from before you.  You’re not quite sure how to proceed. You have no clue how you’ll ever make it to the other side and move on with your life. You just feel incredibly vulnerable and terribly stuck. 

I think the Hebrew people felt like that as they stood before the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army coming behind them. In the natural there was no way for them to get across. The sea was too deep and too wide. They knew where they needed to get to, but they had reached a seeming dead end. The people began to panic, and rightfully so. But that’s when Moses said to them, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:13-14 – NIV)  

If you know the story, God intervened. He pushed back the waters of the sea by sending a strong wind and the people “went through the sea on dry ground.” (vs.22). God made a way to get his people to the other side. He intervened to lead them into that which he had planned for them. As the people trusted him, God got them across to the other side. 

Maybe today you’ve reached a point in your life where it feels as if you’ll never get across to the other side. It might feel as if you’re just stuck and you’ll never get to where you know you ought to be. If so, Moses’ words might be just for you: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm…you need only to be still.” Today just might your opportunity to trust God as you never have before and allow him do for you what you never could have imagined. Before you know it, God will have gotten you to the other side. 

As the songwriter put it, “God will make a way, where there seems to be no way.” (Don Moen) Let’s trust him to do so. 

Have a great day! 

- Pastor Tim Harris