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Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

And I said, ‘what shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ Acts 22:10 ESV

In the 1960’s, one of my favorite songs was the Simon and Garfunkel tune, “Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Their song eerily reminds me of when in 1983 a one-hundred-foot section of a highway bridge over the Mianus River in Connecticut, collapsed at midnight. The first car that come upon it was able to stop in time and the driver jumped out and frantically tried to wave down the other vehicles. Tragically in the dark and confusion of the moment 2 cars and 2 trucks ignored the driver’s warnings and tumbled off into the river. An interstate highway is a road on which we normally feel sure that all is safe, but that night it was deadly.

In all of our lives there are times when we take some roads that we think are right, but in reality, we are driving off a spiritual bridge in the night. Just like Paul we think we know what to do but are radically missing what God has planned for us. Thankfully there are times when God’s grace comes and knocks us to the ground, but we need to pay attention. He has put that roadblock across our path because He sees ahead that the road we are on leads to destruction. God stops us in our tracks, because we have been speeding down life’s highway in the wrong direction. We must remind ourselves that God can never teach us anything, as long as we are sure that we already know all the answers. But when we cry out in astonishment with Paul, “What shall I do?” God is delighted to come and show us what He has had in mind and through Jesus Christ He really does become our “Bridge Over Troubled Water”!

For the younger folks among my readers who have no idea of who Simon and Garfunkel were, I have posted a link to their song.

Photo by David Peinado on Pexels.com

Waiting on God’s Table

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. PSALM 130:5 ESV

Waiting on God is not like getting a number at the deli and waiting your turn in a long line of people. It is more like a waiter serving a table. We ask in prayer, “”How can I help you? or what can I get you today?” Then we wait to hear what God has to say. We watch to see what his needs are like a waitress who refills our coffee cup without being asked. The more we learn to wait by being tuned in to God’s needs, the more of His grace will be poured into and through us to others.

I was given my first lesson on table waiting when my wife and I signed up as volunteers at a community fundraising banquet. She was a pro as she had worked a couple of jobs in the restaurant business. I, on the other hand had no idea what I was doing. No, I did not drop plates of food or spill drinks, but it took me a while to learn to be quiet. It took a few icy stares to get the idea that folks just wanted their food and then to be left alone (unless they needed refills!). Now, of course waiting on God involves an intimate fellowship, but it also requires silence and allowing God’s conversation and interests to take center stage. So let’s ask ourselves, “What is God wanting at the altar today? What is His favorite thing on the menu? And whose cup can I refill for Jesus today?”!

Heaven’s Beauty Shop

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

After my grandfather came from Italy, he became a barber and all six of his children had to pitch in to help in the shop. That shop was where my dad learned his barbering. As a young man dad went off to the war and after coming home settled on opening a beauty salon. On Mondays, dad closed the store for cleaning and while I helped sweep the floors and clean the chairs, we had some of our best talks. Dad loved telling stories and one of his favorites was how many of the ladies washed their hair before coming in, even though they knew he would wash it again. They just couldn’t stand the idea of him seeing that their hair dirty! Now you might think that silly, but sometimes we do the same thing when we go to church. Think of church as Heaven’s beauty shop, where God has a message and fellowship prepared for us that can help us with our dirty hair and give us a loving style again. But instead, of coming to ask God for His help, we decide that we better get ourselves washed up at home, so maybe He won’t notice. Even crazier is that, unlike dad’s clientele, we do not even have to pay the bill. Instead, God has chosen to pay in advance at Calvary, for everything we have ever done. He is not angry when we come with our needs and problems, instead He is ready to wash away our sin and exchange it for grace and beauty and leaves us a new lifestyle. Then, He proudly shows anyone who wants to know that our hair as well as our soul is squeaky clean and ready for Heaven! The hymn “Just as I Am”, reminds us how Jesus calls us to come.