My two oldest built a bridge out of some spare 2X4’s I had laying around today (pictured left). When I saw it, it made me laugh.

I laughed because as a middle school boy I was introduced to one of the greatest movies of all time (at least as far as middle school boys are concerned). In this movie, set in the dark ages, the characters are trying to determine whether or not a woman is a witch – the logic goes like this. If she’s a witch she’ll burn, and if she’ll burn then she must be made out of wood, therefore to determine whether or not she is a witch one must simply determine if she is made out of wood (see why middle school boys like it). In confronting the difficult task of how to determine whether or not the woman in question was in fact made out of wood one of the main characters decides that the best option is to “build a bridge out of her” (I laughed when I typed this). Whether or not you know the movie or appreciate this type of humor – there is a point to my ramblings. 

You see, after the chuckles I stood there thinking about the bridges my kids would have to build in their lives.  In the course of a lifetime, we are all confronted with circumstances that our outside of our own natural ability to understand or control. Things like death, loss, abuse, oppression, unemployment, betrayal.  No matter how long or complex your list of difficulty, the point is – you have one – and my kids will too.

As I thought about this I was reminded of a story in the Bible.  The story of Jethro (Moses’ Father in Law).  If you are new to the Bible you can read the story of Moses and Jethro in Exodus 1-3.  What you will see is that God used some very unique and difficult circumstances to bring Jethro into Moses’ life to teach him how to lead sheep in the wilderness.  What you also see is that later on in Moses’ life (Exodus 18:17-19) God used Jethro to teach Moses how to lead God’s people in the wilderness without wearing himself or God’s people out.  Pretty cool story. 

It gets even cooler though when you realize where Jethro came from.  Jethro was the Priest in a land called Midian, the inhabitants of which were descendants from a man named Midian – whom was the son of a man called Abraham.  The thing you need to know about Abraham is that his life was an incredible adventure which included the miraculous birth of a son to he and his wife Sarah.  The miraculous son (at least as far as most are concerned) was not Midian, it was Isaac (you can read Abraham’s story in Genesis 12-25).  Isaac was a complete miracle and the direct fulfillment of a promise that God had made to bless the world through Abraham and Sarah’s offspring.  If their story was a Disney movie it would end like this “and after the birth of Isaac, Abraham and Sarah raised him to become a handsome prince who married a beautiful princess and then they lived happily ever after until they gently drifted off to sleep in each others arms.”

As you know, God is not Walt Disney and the story didn’t end like this.  Rather it ended like life ends.  Sarah in a box in the ground and Abraham without the love of his life.  But what most people miss is that God’s adventure for Abraham didn’t end with the birth of Isaac or the death of Sarah.  Rather it continued into an end of life romance with a woman named Keturah which resulted in several sons, one of whom was named Midian – whose great, great . . . grandson would come along side of Moses, who was Isaac’s great, great . . . grandson and teach him to lead God’s people through the wilderness. 

With history’s  perspective we can see how God wove from Sarah’s death, a new romance, new children, and a bridge to the future in which his offspring served each other.

So as I looked at the little wooden bridge my children had built . . .  I prayed.  Lord grant me, and my children, the faith to believe that every circumstance, no matter how good or evil, will be used by you to weave a Jethro and Moses type masterpiece that only eternity’s perspective can comprehend.

God is love, and his love results in his grace, which results in man’s free will, which results in man’s sinful choices affecting man, which results in pain, which also often results in man rejecting God’s love and grace.  What sadness.

I choose rather to accept God’s love and grace – accept the temporary pain caused by my own sin and the sinful choices of others – and trust God for the results.

So the next time you drive over a bridge – walk over a bridge – or watch a movie you fell in love with in middle school.  Think about Jethro and remember -

Today’s circumstances, no matter how difficult, are connecting you to God’s tomorrow.

God is good – rest in that.

Josh