The Olympic Peninsula is in the northwest corner of the continental U.S.A. In the late 1930’s it was decided, in order to open up this area of spectacular natural beauty for tourism and economic development, that a great suspension bridge would be built over Puget Sound. The site chosen was the only spot on Puget Sound narrow enough to make a bridge practical. (Puget Sound is a vast inland sea that was formed by glaciers long ago.) Since the city of Tacoma was the population center nearest to the chosen side, the bridge was appropriately named the “Tacoma Narrows Bridge.”
At the time it was built, it was the third longest suspension bridge in the world, just short of the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge with its high towers reaching skyward and long arching cables was designed with a special regard for beauty and sleekness.
Although it was impressive to look at, the bridge seemed to have problems from the beginning. While it was being built, workers had noticed an unsteadiness about it. However, concerns were allayed because engineers assured everyone that the bridge was strong enough according to their calculations.
Soon after the bridge was opened to traffic, drivers noticed a lot of unnerving movement while crossing over it. Somebody in jest called the bridge “Galloping Gertie” and likened driving over the bridge to the up and down motion when riding a horse very fast.
The nickname stuck. Even though travelers complained about “Galloping Gertie,” authorities still insisted it was safe because it was designed to proven scientific formulas. According to these formulas the bridge was more than capable of handling everyday stress of traffic.
The bridge designers got the shock of their lives when, four months after the completion of the bridge, a windstorm swept through the area. The sustained winds of over forty miles an hour began acting on the bridge in ways the engineers had never anticipated. The bridge that had always seemed a little unsteady suddenly began pitching and rolling violently from side to side. Apparently the wind passing under the slender roadbed of the bridge was creating “lift” in the same manner as air currents working on the wing of an airplane.
A driver caught on the bridge when this rolling began became fearful for his life. He stopped his car and opened the door to get out. The bridge tilted so violently beneath him as he stepped out that the pavement slammed against his face. Desperate to escape and unable to stand on the crazily moving bridge, he crawled hundreds of yards on his hands and knees to safety. As soon as he was off the rolling part of the bridge, he turned around just in time to see his car tumble off the bridge and make the long fall to the churning waves below. Seconds later he watched aghast as the long mid-section of the bridge broke apart. He had gotten off just in time!
The great modern bridge, so carefully designed, plunged through the air to crash into the depths of Puget Sound. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured when the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was destroyed.
Why did Galloping Gertie break up? It broke up because the effects of the wind were not clearly understood by the engineers. Their formulas were correct as far as they went, but they did not take into account the effect of strong side winds.
In the fall of Galloping Gertie there is a lesson for each one of us. People have always had many different ideas on what will get them to heaven. There is a whole array of formulas on how to bridge the gap between themselves and God. One such popular formula is trusting that one’s good works will outweigh the bad things they have done. Another idea is that if one doesn’t commit any really bad sins they will be fine in the end. Some say that in the end all will be saved, while others say there are many different ways to God and each one of them is equally valid. Many think that they can bridge the gap by faithfully performing ceremonies, or carefully following a ritual, or perhaps reciting a creed. But the problem with all of them is that they don’t fully take into account the effects of sin.
We are all going to have to do with a God who is absolutely holy. In His holiness He infinitely loves all that is good and just, while He abhors all that is evil with all His being. As the designers of Galloping Gertie didn’t understand the effect of wind on their beautiful bridge, so many people today don’t understand the effect sin will have on their lives. The Bible is perfectly plain: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” And in another place: “The wages of sin is death.”
Sin and death are inseparably linked together. Have you sinned? Then death is the wages you will collect. The verses about death just quoted refer not only to physical death, but also to spiritual death which occurs when a soul is banished out of God’s presence forever. In that awful place called hell the spiritually dead will never cease to exist.
Maybe they never thought about it on earth, but God was always near to them. He was the provider of their every necessity-Giver of every good thing; He preserved them through countless troubles. Through Him came every true joy and happiness they ever might have experienced. The Bible says, He opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. He ordered their lives with sorrows and blessings alike so that they might turn to Him in repentance and faith-but they never did so. In hell they will never again receive good from God’s hand, never again a blessing, never again a joy. Never again will God take a thought for their happiness.
The Lord Jesus spoke more about hell than any other person in the Bible. He said it was a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of torment and endless thirst, a place where the fire is never quenched. It is the kind of place that should be avoided at all cost!
Outside of saving faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, every attempt to bridge the gap between sinful man and a holy God will fail. When Jesus Christ came into the world and went to the cross, it wasn’t man trying to bridge the gap between himself and God. No, it was God undertaking to make a way for sinful man to come unto Him and find forgiveness and fullness of life and joy. The difference is immense. Man’s efforts will never succeed, while God’s way of salvation is open to all and will never fail. There is salvation in Jesus Christ for every one of us if we are only willing to believe.
Be honest with yourself, admit that you are a sinner and unable to save yourself, and turn to the One who is mighty to save. Through Him alone can a sinner find forgiveness and cleansing. Only through Him can we cross over safely from this life to the shores of heaven. No other bridge exists that won’t come crashing down. People may have many ideas for bridges that will carry them to safety at death, but they are all bound to crumble and collapse under them because of the weight of sin. Salvation is through faith in Christ alone. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).