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#Post#: 2156--------------------------------------------------
The Bridge
DIR By: Justin Mangonel
Date: November 27, 2012, 7:38 am
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Some time ago in my life I decided to not look at natural
circumstance but rather to listen to the Holy Spirit so that I
could know the mind and heart of God. Since that time I have had
many experiences that show when God asks us to do something then
no matter what circumstances seem like…there is a way forward.
Let me tell you one such story. It is a true story that happened
in 1993 while I was in the state of Kentucky in the south of the
USA.
One day I set out for a drive early in the morning. As was my
habit, I would have no plan but would simply ask the Holy Spirit
which way I should go. I was trying to learn how to hear the
voice of God by asking Him to speak to me and then following
exactly what He said. That day the Holy Spirit directed me to
drive down a certain country road and as I drove down this road
I came upon a sign that said “Bridge Out”. Naturally, I stopped
my small 4-wheel drive vehicle, and began to turn around,
however, just as I was about to change direction I heard God’s
voice say, “Go forward”. Go forward? Why, I thought to myself,
should I go forward? The bridge is out! Again, the voice of God
said, “Go forward”. I said to God, “O.K., if you want me to go
forward I will go forward”.
I drove perhaps 1/2 mile and came upon a bridge that was under
construction and as I drove to the beginning of the new bridge I
could see that indeed the bridge was only half finished and
abruptly ended in the middle of a ravine. Stopping my vehicle I
looked around and thought to myself, “now what? As I wondered
why God had led me to that place again the voice said to me, “Go
forward”. “What?” “Go forward?” “Go forward onto a half finished
bridge?” “Why Father?” “Is this really you God?” and God simply
said, “Go forward”.
I put my vehicle in gear and slowly drove up onto the unfinished
bridge in obedience to God’s voice…believing less and less that
I was actually hearing from Him. Now that I sat in the middle of
the unfinished part of the bridge I could clearly see where the
bridge construction stopped, half way across the ravine, and
where the construction started again on the opposite side. I
could also see there was at least a 25 foot drop to the bottom.
I was seriously doubting myself and my ability to hear the voice
of God now…after all, I was being told to drive across a ravine
on an unfinished bridge! I sat for about a half an hour
wondering why God had brought me there and what I should do and
then I heard the voice of God say, “Go forward.” Now I truly
began to feel fearful. There was tightness in my stomach and
panic began to well up in my chest because I wondered…was I
listening to God or was it all just my own mind? Or worse
yet…was I listening to a demon that wanted to kill me?
I could clearly see that the bridge dropped off in the middle of
the ravine and that if I obeyed the voice I was hearing I would
surely die. Yet the voice I heard was the same voice that I
always heard when God talked to me. I now doubted if I had ever
heard God’s voice because of what I was being asked to do. It
was a crisis a faith…I had devoted a lot of my life to listening
to what I thought was God’s voice and now that same voice was
asking me to do something that would lead to certain death. I
sat for a very long time in my small vehicle, and wondered what
I should do. It seemed like my mind was a battlefield as I
struggled, thought, and pondered. Finally I heard the voice say,
Get out of the truck” and so I did.
I slowly walked towards the edge of the unfinished bridge that
hung over the ravine. It was at least 25 feet down to the
bottom. Every step I took towards the edge seemed to only
confirm what I knew to be true, there was no way forward and I
had somehow gone mad and was listening to a voice that was not
the voice of the Holy Spirit. As I neared the end of the bridge
I looked over into the ravine suddenly seeing something that
surprised me greatly. Literally, you could not see it until you
came to the very edge of the unfinished bridge. I saw a big
mound of dirt pushed up from the bottom of the ravine to just
below the lip of the concrete upon which I stood. Had I not
gotten out of the truck and taken a look I would have never seen
it! It was very steep and there was about a foot drop off from
the end of the bridge to the mound of dirt, but it looked like I
could make it. I climbed back into my vehicle and put it in low
gear and 4 wheel drive and drove towards the edge of the
unfinished bridge. I crept over the edge, down the pile of dirt,
across the dry creek bed, and up the other side of the ravine
and onto the normal pavement and continued on my way.
This was a very important lesson for me and it is one that I
have thought about every time that I feel that God is calling me
to do something that seems impossible to my natural mind.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of
things not yet seen. Many times it takes great courage and faith
on our parts to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. The walk
of faith, especially when it contradicts our natural senses, is
not easy. However, the fact is that we are all called to lead a
Spirit led life. If we truly desire to grow into the fullness
and the stature of Christ we will, figuratively speaking, be
called to “drive over ravines on bridges that are not there” at
some point.
Our personal journeys are step by step and often times God will
not show us more than the next step forward. This is where trust
comes in…a trust not based upon what we know but upon who we
know. If you desire to follow Jesus you will come to your own
bridge someday, just know that even though everything in the
natural may seem to say different, God has surely made a way
forward.
#Post#: 2160--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Bridge
DIR By: Runner
Date: November 27, 2012, 12:39 pm
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What an excellent experience of encouragement to share with us
Justin!
I am sad to say that in our younger Christian life, we 'heard'
much easier, and obeyed much quicker! I am not quite sure where
we got "too mature" to live in this way!
It was probably via Dave Wilkerson's book "Cross and
Switchblade' ,and Brother Andrews book, " God's Smuggler" which
set our feet upon that path of 'hearing'.
I also remember the missionary Fenton Hall..( South America)
when running through the jungle to find lost tribes he would
come to a T junction, ...should he go left or right?
As he ran up to any split in the pathway he would cry out "
Father, which is it, left or right?" He would then make a
choice and believe that the one he chose was God's choice.
As I write this, I am now wondering if after reading the book
about him...we somehowtook this to ourselves , and no longer
waited to hear an answer!!!!
There's a thought. For him it was probably right...he was
running with God, and could wait every time for an answer, night
falls fast.
The other day Dave said to me.. "when did we stop being
dependant and began being too 'mature'?
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