Bridging the Gap.
We need rescuing, so God found a way of bridging the gap to us. Carol reminds us of the gift of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
A Huge Puzzle
I look at the huge 2000 piece puzzle on the table. The picture has many similar colour pieces so the degree of difficulty remains high. Yet my daughter, Amee, had made lots of progress. Yet there are big gaps where no pieces have been placed. Bit by bit she fills them. It takes time.
Sometimes events in our lives are scattered bits and pieces with many gaps that need filling in. We need patience to see how each step in the process will be completed. At other times, physical gaps appear. That happened to me a few decades ago but the memory remains vivid today.
A Nasty Fall
I lay still, afraid to move in case my back or neck had broken. Seconds ago I stood on the top tread of the old staircase that swayed, creaked, and groaned with each of my tentative steps. The sounds changed to the screech of nails pulling out of wood. My feet dangled in the empty air while I clutched the doorframes, hoping to save myself from following the staircase as it crashed on the cement below.
All efforts to save myself failed as my fingers slipped. Gravity pulled me backwards. I followed the path of the missing staircase and landed with a thud on top of it before bouncing on to my side. Pain shot through my body. I stared at the impossible gap above me.
Helplessness
I could not move. I had no strength to lift the stairs or any way to fasten them. No ladder lay in the basement waiting to offer a way out of the mess I found myself in. Our home in the country meant no close neighbours. My husband would not be home for over seven hours and the phone was attached to the kitchen wall. My two and four year old daughters could not help and I could not help them. I needed someone to bridge the gap between the basement where I lay and the main floor of the house.
Unexpected Help
God provided help that day within an hour and in unexpected ways. Forty years later the sights, sounds and feelings of helplessness are still vivid. But thinking about that unattainable distance to reach help made me think about our spiritual condition.
In John 14: 6 Jesus tells us,
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Romans 5:6 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
The gap between a righteous God and sinful people can only be bridged by the cross of Jesus. Romans 6:23 says,
“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.”
Ephesians 2: 8, 9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God. Not by works so that no one can boast.”
Bridging the Gap
Just like I could not bridge the gap between where I lay on the basement floor and being rescued, so none of us can bridge the gap and rescue ourselves in order to spend eternity with Christ. Gratefulness filled my heart when help arrived so quickly forty years ago. I long to always be filled with wonder and gratitude for the much greater rescue that God supplied when he used the cross to make a way to cross the insurmountable gap between people and God. I am so glad Jesus rescued my soul.
What about you? Have you been in a situation with a gap that needed bridging in your physical life? Do you know the grace of God in bridging the spiritual gap that nothing could fill but Jesus’ sacrifice?
How has God rescued you? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Carol Harrison
Listen to Carol’s program Puzzle Pieces Of Life or visit Carol’s website carolscorner.ca
Carol Harrison B.Ed is a speaker and published author with one book, Amee’s Story and stories in twelve anthologies. She is passionate about helping people of all ages and ability levels find their voice and reach their fullest potential.
She knows, through personal experience that some of life’s experiences are tougher than others. Carol encourages people that even in the twists and turns of life God’s amazing grace provides hope.
She lives in Saskatoon, SK with her husband Brian. They have four adult children and a dozen grandchildren.
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