A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join a group going rock climbing one day. Since I had no idea what rock climbing was, I hesitated in giving an answer.
"What's that?" I asked, very much in need of being enlightened on the subject.
"Pretty much what it sounds like." came the response, "You're on a rope and you climb up the side of a cliff. Don't worry. We have someone holding on to the rope so you won't fall."
Still a bit wary, but curious, I decided to take a chance. If I didn't like what I saw, I figured it would be fine to simply watch everyone else. What could be the harm in giving it a try?
It took a few hours to get there, but we arrived at Great Falls by mid-morning. Each person was fitted with a harness. Basic safety instructions were shared. Soon we were prepared to make our first climb of the day!
The group leader started with an easy route. He demonstrated the use of the rope, how it secured to the harness, and the fact that we would all have the advantage of a good belay. A "belay" is the person at the base of the cliff who holds on to the rope for the climber. If you should slip, lose your hand-hold, or fall, the belay is the person who catches you.
After seeing this brief demonstration, we each had the opportunity to do a climb ourselves. I concluded very quickly that anyone who loves a challenge will love rock climbing. It's great!
Each climb was progressively more difficult requiring greater focus and concentration, but the group leader was always there to offer input regarding how we might overcome our latest challenge. We sure needed it. Each new climb required a new plan - each step required new and constant analysis. It wasn't good enough to merely stand at the base of the cliff and establish a course based purely upon observation. The climber needed to constantly analyse his position during the climb, and make course corrections as necessary. Not everything is as obvious as it appears at a distance.
During one particular climb, it became very necessary for me to stop and analyse a situation I found myself in about half way up the cliff. Things had looked so simple from the ground. I had determined it would be an easy thing to reach up and grab a certain hand-hold to pull myself up over a ledge. Upon closer examination, it was not so. The hand-hold was much further beyond my reach than I had previously supposed.
I decided to try using a small foot-hold to boost myself up higher. This didn't work either. My foot kept slipping off. The hand-holds available to me seemed impossible to use. For my left hand, I had a small horizontal crack, which I could barely fit the tips of my fingers into. For my right hand, I had a large rounded rock formation. For me, it was like attempting to "palm" a basketball, and my hands are rather small.
With no apparent course available, I called to the guide down below. "I'm stuck!"
"No, you're not." came the reply.
"Yes! I am!" I returned. "I really don't know how to get past this."
"Keep looking." The guide was careful not to sound judgemental or critical. It was his experience that most new climbers do find their way eventually if they just give themselves a chance.
I returned to trying the foot-hold, but still kept slipping off. I ran my hands over all surrounding surfaces to see if I'd missed anything at all. No luck.
Finally, in sheer exasperation, I called to the guide down below. "Sorry, but I can't find anything. I may have to abort."
This was something the guide didn't like hearing. No matter how difficult the climb, he did not like to see people give up. There was more to it than just giving up on the climb; it had to do with people giving up on themselves and their abilities to endure and think their way through.
"You're not putting your full weight on your foot-hold." he said.
"Now just how do you know that?" I asked. It was true, but the foot-hold was sloped sharply and I didn't believe for a minute that it would honestly support my full weight. Why set myself up to fall entirely off the cliff? I was certain there had to be an easier, surer way.
"You need to put your full weight on it. If you don't, you'll just keep sliding off and you'll never reach the top."
"That's impossible. How does this rock know how much I weigh?" I queried. "How can it tell that I'm not putting my full weight on it?"
"It just knows." he said, then smiled. "I don't know how it knows, but it knows."
Normally I'm not one to knock the voice of experience, but this just seemed too simple to be true. Just then a few spiritual puzzle pieces fell into place. I realized it was all about faith. I had to have faith that this rock could support me. Otherwise, the guide was right - I would never reach the top.
It took a few minutes to let all this sink in. There were only two choices. I could risk everything and stretch my faith a little. There would be no harm in this. If I did fall, the belay was there to catch me. He'd already done that once during the day. I was certain he would do it again.
The other choice was to take the "easy way" I'd been looking for earlier, which was really just "the easy way out". I could abort the climb altogether. This thought I hated because I knew I'd end up going home thoroughly disappointed in myself. It may sound silly to think that this situation could effect me so powerfully, but I knew it was true. If I let this rock beat me - if I didn't rise to the challenge and overcome, I would be determining a lot more about myself than about any rock.
Taking a deep breath, I placed the fingers of my left hand into the tiny crack and my right hand over the "basketball". The tip of my shoe rested firmly (for a change) upon the slanted ledge.
The countdown began. One...two...three...UP! I tell you, I never did anything so easy in my life! It was unbelievable how I almost threw myself up over the ledge. From there I was able to grasp the hand-holds I'd determined earlier and finish my assent.
This experience made me think deeply about how often we may give up in our lives, and all because we cannot see the road perfectly paved out before us. How many challenges have we perhaps given in to, and all because we are not willing to "put our full weight on them", letting the very obstacle attempting to defeat us lift us to higher ground? It's definately something to think about. What's more, we all have a very reliable belay. His name is Jesus Christ. He holds the rope for each of us and will never let us fall.
Christ said if we would demonstrate faith as great as a mustard seed, we would move mountains. I guess I still have a long way to go. The mountain didn't move for me - I had to climb to the top. But "putting my full weight on it" that day opened up some new doors for me. I hope sharing this experience has opened some new doors for you.
I leave you this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
