The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Bridge (07/31/08)
A Bridge Called Hope


Chronic physical discomfort has a way of chipping away at the soul; of eating a person alive. It wears away tolerance like gritty sandpaper to expose the raw reality: anguish. Sometimes others cannot understand. Suffering can be lonely business.

Hope bridges the gap between despair and overcoming.

Counterfeit truths - supposed but unsubstantiated - can simmer into an emotional stew deep within the human heart. Eventually the pot boils over like a volcanic eruption, spewing molten emotional lava everywhere. The result? Devastation.

Hope bridges the gap between depression and inner healing.

Life circumstances sometimes offer surprises that take the wind out of otherwise directed and purposeful sails. We wonder and question, like Job, at the meaning and purpose of things gone awry. We look beyond ourselves, we pray, we hope.

Hope bridges the gap between reason and trust.

_______________________________________________________________________


Fueled by tenacious spiritedness, she lives with an unsavory companion: blindness. Every day means overcoming limitations and exhaustion. There is no relief in sight, only more uphill battles – and yet while living in the valley she reaches for the mountaintop.

Hope bridges the gap between weariness and strength.

They misunderstand each other from the beginning, each one trying to present a façade acceptable to the other. Decades later they examine their roots borne of insecurity and inadequacy, and begin to build again; to start over.

Hope bridges the gap between brokenness and wholeness.

Born into a dysfunctional family, she longs to discover how to live a better life. It becomes a wrenching journey, to leave behind the comfortable (but fickle) supports and embrace what seems untested. Her heart melts; she follows an unseen God.

Hope bridges the gap between doubt and faith.

His two-year-old bashful eyes seem vacant - devoid of feeling or expression, magnetic and yet distant - like the grey-blue of a mountain shaded by a thundercloud. The doctor says medical science doesn’t know why. There is no prognosis - yet.

Hope bridges the gap between the unknown and the known.

When her adoptive mother passes away, she begins the search to find her birth mother. Will it be worth the risk? Somewhere far away that very mother longs to find the baby she released out of unconditional love, hoping to give it a father and a stable home.

Hope bridges the gap between fear and boldness.

He trusts his own control, his own resources; he knows what he needs, and strives to acquire it. He also realizes his weakness (self-centeredness), and yet unwittingly perpetuates it. He guards his intensity while praying for the ability to release it to God.

Hope bridges the gap between pride and submission.

She chooses to live in isolation, to self-destruct spiritually. Her life slips away, highlighted by momentary glimpses of satisfaction - temporary anesthesia. She needs resurrection and restoration at the hand of the Holy Spirit.

Hope bridges the gap between defeat and victory.

______________________________________________________________________


Today threatens to be ruled by regret, tomorrow by uncertainty – but both belong to God. Every moment is holy. God infuses our earth with wind: His silky caress. He enables life here with the sun: His energy. This is incomprehensible, and yet factual.

Hope bridges the gap between want and security.

Biblical hope is factual, not fabricated. Rather than a wish or yearning, hope in Christ is a tangible promise: He is faithful and He will provide. The goal of His followers - and even those who are being called to follow - is to focus on Him rather than circumstances.

Hope bridges the gap between mankind and God.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 1339 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Joanne Sher 
08/07/08
The repetition is VERY effective here--wonderfully done. So much truth to take away with me here.
Racheal Chand
08/08/08
I enjoyed how you touched on an array of issues that we as humans face each day. You displayed nicely the answer to each void a person may be experiencing. Good Job.
Sherril Wendling
08/09/08
POWERFUL preaching, my friend! A steak dinner you can sink your teeth into. I love your evocative descriptions of suffering, and the ingenious way you painted hope as the bridge between every sorrow and Source, summing it all up in the Person of our Lord. I come away vastly encouraged and filled with worship. Thank you--what a gift!
Verna Cole Mitchell 
08/10/08
Your examples for hope as a bridge are well-thought out and presented. I appreciate the hope you show.
Rita Horten
08/20/08
In the past few weeks, my sister has miraculously been brought back from death, my daughter has finally begun to seek help with her emotional breakdown and your words paint both pictures so accurately. They brought tears to my eyes and I could not have said it better. I would like to share this article with both of them. Thank you for such a beatiful representation of the bridge.