2018 Weekly Devotional - Week 40

Week 40

Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all you heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
And he will make your paths straight.”

    A few years ago, I was treated to one of those hidden gems in our state. You know, it is one of those things you never knew was there and are totally caught off guard when you discover it. I’m talking about the Regency Bridge. The bridge saddles Mills and San Saba counties and has a span of about 325 feetand a wood-plank surface. Life hasn’t been very easy for the bridge that gets its name from an abandoned community on the Mills County side of the river. The first edition of the bridge was built in 1903 but collapsed as a herd of cattle was crossing. The second edition was destroyed by a flood in 1936. The latest edition was built in 1939 and spans the Colorado river with most of the construction work being done by hand. This is the last suspension bridge in the state that is still open to vehicular traffic. At first blush the bridge doesn’t look like it would support the weight of a truck. It has these spindly towers that support the compression load and thin cables that carry the tension load, and wood planks for a road surface. The litte structure as a whole deceives the eye as to its strength. After swallowing hard, I pressed the accelerator and crossed over without incident into San Saba county. That might not sound all that impressive for those of us used to rock solid concrete bridges. But once you get on this one lane bridge and feel the whole contraption gently swaying and bobbing like a cork in the water your whole appreciation for the bridge increases exponentially!

    Our passage of scripture teaches us to not lean on our own understanding but rather trust the Lord with all our heart. Just as our physical eyes can lead our mind to an incorrect understanding of physics, so too circumstances in life can lead us to an incorrect understanding of God’s presence in our lives. Perhaps you are feeling compressed by the burden of a difficult situation. Maybe the tension of a strained relationship is leading you to be anxious. When we trust in the Lord with all our hearts, not leaning on our limited human understanding, and acknowledge him in all our ways, the teaching of scripture is that the Lord will make our paths straight. There are times when we must take a deep breath, defy what our flawed understanding is telling us, and step out on faith believing that the Lord will make fast our way.

In Christ,

John