The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most loved and iconic structures in New York City, but it was not always that way. When it was completed in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and many New Yorkers did not believe it was strong enough to survive. Many refused to go anywhere near it.
This fear reached its height six days after its grand opening when a lady fell down a set of stairs leading off the bridge. As she fell, she screamed and that scream caused someone on the bridge to panic and yell, “The bridge is collapsing!” This started a stampede as everyone pushed toward the exits. People pushed, shoved, and ran over one another, resulting in twelve people dying in the ensuing chaos.
More than any other emotion, fear is dangerous and contagious. Fear-based thinking hinders progress, diminishes hope, and discourages others. Fear causes us to flee even when there is no real threat. Pointing out all the potential problems and dangers sounds wise, but, in the end, it does not help, because there is always something to fear. Like the old arcade game Whack-a-Mole, as soon as you get one situation under control, another fear presents itself.
The solution, however, is not found in being braver, stronger, or trying harder. If people could calm themselves down, they would. What we need is not a better effort, but a different focus.
Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”. Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25-27). We may not know what is coming, but it is comforting to know that we are “kept by the power of God” (1 Peter 1:5).
The first step in facing an unknown future is to turn up your trust in God.
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