To burn a bridge is to say with irreversible finality that you are ending something. That’s it, no turning back, no revisiting the past. When you burn a wooden bridge after you’ve crossed it there is no way you can go back to the road you left. End. Done. Finito.
Burning bridges can be a good thing, in our Christian walk we see the story of Lot’s wife as an example of the consequence of turning back. Her bridge was not completely burned because there was that desire to turn back, the desire that ultimately was her demise. The bridges we burn in our walk; the strongholds, the desires and the relationships serve the purpose of helping us to move into greater glory. But what about the bridges we burned when we weren’t supposed to? Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time and a season for everything, “a time to tear and a time to mend” (3:7), this time presumably being God’s time! How infallible is man that we sometimes take on the role of God? Revelations 3:8 says “I have put an open door before you, which no one can close”, God’s purpose and will in our lives is dependent on His actions and our acceptance of those actions. What do you do when you’ve burned a bridge with someone that you want to build back? How do you reverse something irreversible?
“Love builds a bridge when there are none” R.H. Delaney
In 1 Peter 4:8 we see that “love covers a multitude of sins”, a multitude of mess, of mistakes, of miss-interpretations and miss-communication. Love is the mortar, the metal, the nails the iron that not only re-builds a bridge but re-enforces it. It makes what was once a rickety wood bridge into a strong, sturdy metal bridge. One that will not be easily swayed by the wind.
“We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Isaac Newton
Friendships are one of the bridges that God commands us to have; we become brothers and sisters of Christ when we are grafted into the vine, fully able to share in the kingdom with the Father and Son. Proverbs tells us that a “friend loves at all times” and so we must love one another. “Let us pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbringing” (Romans 14:19), “Encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25b) in the love of the Lord. These bridges (the ones founded on love) lead us to new places that were only seen previously by God himself. 1 Peter 5:6 says “Humble yourselves therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time”… that is being humble enough to realize the error of burning a bridge and taking the steps (again in love) to rebuild it.
Love is what it is all about.
This latest blog is one which comes from a very intimate and real place for me. I encourage any thoughts that you may have on it. Sisters, I ask you in faith to pray about any bridges you might have pre-maturely burned and how you can go about the steps of repentance, forgiveness and restoration.
Priscila L
xoxo
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