I-35W bridge collapse a wake up call

By Tom Prichard

The collapse of the I-35 bridge captured the attention of the nation. But what might God be trying to say through the tragedy?

While on vacation I heard the news of the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis. The Fox News Network covered the story seemingly non-stop and the other networks made it the top news story nationally for many evenings. While time was spent discussing it's causes and who to blame, I didn't hear any mention of what spiritual lessons we might be able to learn through it.

I realize one has to be very careful when attempting to interpret what God might be saying through such tragedies, but if the Bible is true then nothing happens without His knowledge and permission.

In the Gospel of Luke there is the interesting story of Jesus being confronted with another tragedy -- the story of the tower of Siloam falling and killing 18 people. The thinking at the time was that these 18 people suffered the fate of death because they were worse sinners than everybody else. Jesus' response was no, the people who died were no worse than anybody else. But He added, His listeners' fate would be no different if they failed to repent and turn to God.

I think tragedies like the I-35W bridge collapse serves to remind us of our human frailty and that we are not God. Life is short and there is an ultimate judgement. Too often we forget God. We think we're ultimately in charge. Then along comes a tragedy like the collapse of the a tower in Jerusalem or a collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis. It's a wake up call, reminding us of mortality and accountability to God.