Rusting On Purpose.

One of the highlights for my family since moving here to Austin, Texas this past November, is the opportunity to drive by and visit The Pennybacker Bridge, also known as The 360 Bridge, located just west of downtown Austin.

About two years ago, my wife and I fell absolutely in love with this bridge from a picture we found on the internet, which made into a desktop background for the computer, not then knowing it was actually located in Austin until we came to visit. For some odd reason, perhaps due to its name, or its rather simplistic look, we always thought this bridge had a story to tell.

Well, while on a shuttle tour through the city upon our arrival, we approached The 360 Bridge. Our guide, a very animated one I might add, shared with us a few facts about the bridge, one of which I thought I share today.

Percy Pennybacker, who for many years designed bridges for the Texas Highway Department, wanted to create something unique for the city of Austin; something that will personify its uncommon cityscape and the limestone rocks and hills that surround it. So he decided to give The 360 Bridge a weathered rust finish, in order for the bridge to blend in well with its surroundings over time.

In other words, he designed the bridge to rust on purpose.

The bridge, which was completed and open for traffic back in 1982, actually became stronger and more resistant to the challenges most bridges face because its designer intentionally covered it with rust early. After hearing that, I couldn’t help but to think about how God has fashioned many of us as believers. Throughout our early years, many of us never seem to fit in to the accepted norm.

No matter how hard we tried to polish ourselves to the pleasure of others, there was always this layer of rust that kept us away from pursuing normalcy. Many of us have spent a large majority of our lives wrestling with God to bless us with what we see others have, only to leave our wrestling match with a limp that cannot be hidden (see Genesis 32:22-32).

So what do we do with this rusted life God has given us?

It’s quite simple. We become a bridge.
A bridge that will connect others from where they are, to where Christ is.

The past four years for me has been a period of examination for my wife and I; a time for us to come face to face with the rust God has given us, as well as some of the rust we have added on ourselves.

Our hope is that one day this rust will be used to create a beautiful bridge of support for others; one that will enable believers and unbelievers alike with an opportunity to cross over every hill and valley that would try to separate them from the love of God.