I recently had the opportunity to go to a rock climbing gym. I’ve been rock climbing before so I was excited about the prospect. The first thing you do before you can climb is to put on a harness. The harness allows you to tie in to the belay rope and climb safely. The belay rope is a long rope that gets attached to the climber, is threaded through a secure device at the very top of the route near the ceiling and comes all the way back down to the person who will belay the climber. The belayer is also wearing a harness that has a device on it that the rope goes through. That person’s job is to hold the rope secure and watch the climber. If the climber falls, it is their job to hold the rope tight so the climber doesn’t hit the ground.
It’s an interesting concept. As the climber, I am scaling the face of a wall with only small footholds and handholds and trusting in the equipment and the person at the other end of that equipment to save me if I fall. As the climber, I know that my belayer has been trained and certified to do the right things. Their sole job is watch me climb and act as my security net if I fall.
It’s not uncommon to fall off the wall, especially if you are climbing a difficult route or one that takes a while and you start to get tired. That’s what the safety equipment and the belayer are for. Even with all of the knowledge that the safety equipment has been tested and the belayer is certified, that first time you let go of the wall, whether on purpose because you reached the top or on accident because you fell, it can be a nerve racking experience.
Relating that to my own life, do I trust the equipping that God has given me (the Bible) and do I trust God to have the other end of the rope? And what does that really look like?
If I believe the Bible is true, that means that Noah really built a massive boat where there was no water, Moses really told a million people not to panic while an angry army was bearing down on them, and David really walked into a valley to face a giant with only a slingshot. They trusted God. So following along with their stories, Noah and his family ended up being the only survivors of global flood, Moses and a million people walked on dry land between walls of water to safety and David killed a giant with a leather strap and a rock.
God has a proven track record of being trustworthy. Anybody can say they believe the system works while standing on the ground. The real question is, are you willing to exercise that faith and start to climb the wall?
Climb on,
Patricia
Life is a Team Sport 