A Strong Rope

This week for the first time in about a year, my three kids and I went to the rock climbing gym.  After belaying two of them, I took my turn scaling the wall. As I did, it became quickly obvious that I was both out of practice and out of shape. As I climbed not only did I feel quite awkward moving from one hold to the next, but the muscles, especially in my forearms, began to quiver with pain. Quite a few times I lost my grip and found myself dangling in my harness attached to the top rope, sometimes thirty feet or more in the air. At those moments, I was really glad for a strong rope (and a son who knew what to do with it!).

Without the rope properly attached to my harness , I would have surely fallen and seriously injured myself. Without the right rope, I would have easily plunged to the ground below. In fact, without the right rope, I would never scale a wall as high as I did, hanging onto small rock holds up to thirty-five feet or more in the air. Before I climb a wall like that, I need to know I’m attached to a strong rope.

As I go through life, I find it is often like scaling a wall at the rock climbing gym. I’m constantly looking for the next step (the next hold) as I try to get a “grip” on what is happening around me. Sometimes I find myself feeling pretty secure and moving forward. At other times, however, I suddenly lose my hold and slip back a few feet. Then there are those times when I feel like I’m just dangling in the air! It’s at those times, when I am slipping or even dangling that I am especially grateful for the strong “rope” in my life. I am glad to know that God is able to keep me from plunging to the ground.

The Psalmist wrote, “...I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’  My times are in your hands….” (Psalm 31:14-15 – NIV)  The Apostle Jude wrote of him, “…who is able to keep you from falling….” (Jude 24-NIV)  Both had learned that there is nothing and no one better to depend upon for safety  than God himself. He is our strong rope!   

We all need a safety rope as we go through this life. Life can be pretty precarious. There are times when we will slip and times when we will even be left dangling in the air.  At those times, in whom or what are you going to put your trust?  Let me encourage you to put your trust in God.  He alone is the strong “rope” in whom you can always depend.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalm 20:7-NIV)

Have a great day!

-Pastor Tim Harris