When I was kid there was a book called “The Bridge” that I read over and over again.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  Now I understand that it fed my spirit.  It said something about God that moved me out of the realm of the soul and into something eternally powerful.

The story was about two kingdoms on either side of a river.  The larger of the two was called Folger, and it fit the sound of its name to a T.  The smaller kingdom was called Bracken, and its persistent prosperity drove the larger kingdom into a fury.  The lord of Folger wanted to swallow Bracken like a snake swallows a frog.

Invasion, however, was tricky business because of the river.  It was wide and swiftly flowing, so the only tenable point of access was a large wooden suspension bridge.  For many years, the bridge was successfully guarded by the smaller kingdom.  But one grim night, through an act of betrayal, the guard was compromised and the enemy stormed the castle.  A large invasion of thousands of soldiers was to follow.

The story follows the adventures of the Princess, who through the ingenious and sacrificial strategy of her father’s advisors, escapes.  By a providence much kinder than her spoiled disposition deserved, she connects with a wise woman who has more than patience, she has a key to victory for the little nation.

The key is in the form of a song.  It was a ballad sung by the castle guard of Bracken for hundreds of years, but out of tradition, not an understanding of the meaning.  Here are the words of the song:

“Come war, the soldier earns his trade.
Beat the drums; my heart inspire.
Bring me my iron blade,
My helmet rivet on.
Bring me the prancing horse
Gird on my sword of fire.

Nay, come there many boots,
On cobblestones that ring?
Disarm me where the waters course.
My iron helm unhinge.
A riverboat shall be my horse.
One axe shall overthrow a king.

In the night the soldier creeps,
Midway from shore to shore.
High above the murky deep
He finds a slender wooden floor.
‘Twill one man safely keep,
Whose axe shall end a war.”

The song was about the bridge.  It spoke of a soldier who discarded his armor and horse when he realized that the army was advancing over the cobblestones of the bridge.  He goes instead to the river, to a place halfway in-between.  There he ascends above the water to do something to win the war that only requires the power of one axe.

When they follow the instructions of the song, they discover a hidden platform with a single small beam.  When chopped through, an entire section of cabled suspension was weakened.  No way could it hold the force of an army’s marching feet.

And indeed, it did not.  When the full invasion came, the bridge collapsed.

The beauty of this story is that the builders had planned ahead.  They knew the lay of the land and the nature of the two kingdoms.  They knew the day would come when the smaller kingdom would be faced with utter defeat.  So they built into the bridge a mechanism for overthrowing the strength of the enemy and securing the victory.

It is this picture that so captivates my spirit because I see a reflection of the nature of God.  The enemy often shows himself so powerful.  He rages against us and he can wound us deeply.  But God is out ahead of him.  God is the master strategist, planning and placing leverage points throughout the structure of time, in anticipation for the day when they will be revealed, like the meaning of the song.  Our God doesn’t do blocked.  He doesn’t do defeated.  God is a God of victory and He builds triumph into the timeline of our lives and of all mankind.

For us individually, time and again, we discover some unscathed piece of design that spoils the enemy’s attempts to utterly crush and destroy.  A partial victory is never safe for him because God can suddenly uncover a piece that was there all along, or give us some truth that turns things right side up, and the enemy’s strategy disintegrates.  Throughout history, from Adam and Eve, to Moses and the Hebrews, to Reese Howells and his intercessors, God has demonstrated His incomparable skill of triumphing over the enemy with a plan that was set in motion before the crisis came.  The greatest illustration is the person of Jesus Christ whose incarnation was built into time before man was even made.

Everywhere around us are these masterfully designed bridges, waiting for the moment of use by our undefeatable God.  We may not see them because we are limited in our view of time.  But they are there.  They are in our lives, and sometimes we sing the song before we ever know what it means.  But the day will come when we understand, and the enemy will lose another battle.  God has built them into the fabric of time, and ultimately, when the enemy believes he has finally achieved a complete victory, the King will come again.  His mighty sword will fell the final bridge and His saints will triumph with Him forever.