The Bridge of Sighs

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"At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs --He hears; He rescues." (Psalm 55:17, The Message).

Have you ever sighed? Of course you have. It’s a dumb question. We each sigh all the time. The struggle has ended…..and so we sigh. The deal fell through…. and so we sigh. Our team won…. and so we sigh. Our team lost…. and so we sigh. The movie ended happily ever after…and so we sigh.

A sigh is part of the vocabulary of dreamers and lovers alike.

A sigh gathers up our deepest longings, our faintest hopes, and our most treasured dreams and carries them where words cannot go. Yes, we may feel a set back from the momentary loss of hope, or the superficial dash of a great expectation. And so we sigh. And in that sigh is an unspoken prayer; a faint blush of hope -- for tomorrow may bring it in after all.

A sigh lets go of the disappointment and breathes in a fresh faith for another run at the prize. A sigh vents out of our emotional store the tepid air of failure, and makes room for optimism’s mysterious power.

God has given us an invitation to walk through the door of faith into His presence and commune at the most intimate level – just beyond the bridge of sighs. The apostle put it this way, “with groanings too deep to be uttered.”

What if there was a way to speak words we’ve never learned, in a vocabulary known only to God? And what if a sigh were the means of transporting those words beyond the veil that separates earth from heaven? Who in their right mind would refuse to sigh?

The wicked; that’s who.

The wicked do not sigh. They huff and puff, and (dare I say it?) -- blow their house down. Or, at least they try. That’s it. They try, but they do not sigh. Hard hearts and shallow lungs are often found in the same place.

But for childlike souls the wide world over, this bridge of sighs provides safe passage above and beyond the limitations of land-locked trivialities, and carries us into the presence of the Lord where we are filled afresh with new mercies every day.

OK...so take a deep breath and slowly let it out. Sigh. Now didn't that just feel right? Keep it up and you just might cross that bridge into the Lord's presence!
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