A BRIDGE OF RELIABILITY

Isaiah 26:3-4 ³You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. ⁴Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.

For many commuters worldwide, the morning or evening rush hour can be very frustrating.  Being stuck in traffic can often feel like a fate worse than death.  However, isn’t it amazing that when traffic flows as it should and we come to a bridge that crosses a ravine, a water passage, another road or other terrain, most times we never question whether the bridge will continue to function in order to allow us to pass-over.  Barring a sign that decrees, “Bridge Out” we rightfully assume the bridge will carry us wherever we need to go.  Most commuters believe in the stability and proven durability of a stable bridge.  We have this feeling because the bridge has been reliable and trust-worthy for the many times it has carried us to our destination.  In fact, even when we encounter a bridge we have never crossed, we have no fear that it can sustain our load because after all….it is a bridge.

Wouldn’t it be great if we trusted God like we do our bridges?  Despite God’s proven track record of reliability and durability in our lives, we often doubt his ability to sustain us in our most difficult times. The word of God declares in Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”  Moreover, Psalms 36:5 says, “Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.”

One of the reasons the people of God will doubt the Lord is because of seemingly unanswered prayer, disappointment, loss or sickness.  To overcome this type of doubt and lack of trust, we must spend time in God’s word.  There is simply no other way.  In the great state of Maryland where I reside, the Maryland Bay Bridge is the crown and glory of the passageway to the eastern shore.  I can drive this bridge blind-folded.  I am familiar with it. I love it. It has never let me down as I use it to travel to Maryland’s glorious east and its beaches and seafood delights.  Because I am familiar with the bridge, I trust it.  Sometimes it might sway in the wind, but I know it will not fail.  If I and others can put this much faith in a man-made object, what about our faith in the omniscient and powerful God?

Keep remembering that by spending time with God, praying, meditating, and focusing on his word, we develop an intimacy with him that allows us to trust him when our day of disappointment and calamity comes. A popular commercial once stated, “Jesus Christ is the biggest liar of all time, or he is who he claimed to be.”  Thank God we know that he is who he claimed to be. The son of God in whom is vested all of the power and authority over the seen and unseen.  We must never forget this.

When we have trust issues with God, we are not the first to experience this phenomenon.  I often wonder what Noah must have thought when asked to build an ark in the barren, arid desert.  Or what of Moses, when faced with the looming vastness of the red sea, while walking God’s people toward the Promised Land.   Dear reader, in Sunday school as a five year old boy, I learned these words concerning the truth of God…..”Every promise in the book is mine; every chapter every verse, every line. All are blessings of his love divine, every promise in the book is mine. This is for all of us.  Agape.

Elder Jerome Woods, II

Elder Jerome Woods, II is the husband of Alana M. Woods and is the son of the late Jerome Woods, Sr. and Larina Woods. He is a Washington, D.C. native and associate Elder at High Calling Ministries pastored by George W. Hawkins, Jr. Elder Woods is a graduate of The George Washington University (1994) where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with minors in Sociology and Latin Classical Humanities. Elder Woods received his Juris Doctorate in 1997 from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.