Leap of Faith

So I went rock climbing for the first time. I am afraid of heights. Not in a: "I'm completely afraid and I am freaking out" kind of way. Rather in a: "I don't want to be this high but its a challenge to overcome it." Either way: If you put me at the edge of a cliff and tell me to repel I am going to take a moment to reflect on why I am on this cliff in the first place.

It was an amazing experience once I took that first step off the ledge. Terrifying, but exhilarating at the same time. Having faith in myself to "brake" when needed was a scary thought. What if I forgot to pull the rope to brake? What if I completely get distracted and let go of the rope? I will surely fall to my death. On my own, these are all possibilities.

Surely as a first time rock climber I did not do this. No I had a person at the bottom who was belaying for me. For my non-rock climbing readers, when you repel there are multiple ways you can do it. In this circumstance I had someone who was holding the rope so if I did fall they could "brake" for me. In other words... I would be safe. No crashing into rocks (well not much crashing into rocks) but certainly no falling to my death.

There were moments when I was climbing that I was so afraid of falling. I would hold on until I thought I couldn't hold on anymore. It was at that moment when I was tired that I found the life lesson: I have to trust in the rope. It doesn't matter how far up I go, how tired I am when I get there, how rough my muscles felt or how many rocks I crashed into. I can always find rest in the rope. With a belayer I can just let it all go. I can take a break before climbing on but simply letting go.

That rope was held by someone I trusted who could give me relief whenever needed. It's so funny. This year I have tried so hard to keep climbing on my own... the truth is I can't do it alone. Its impossible. I could easily get hurt or fall on my own. All the while God is standing by just waiting to belay for me. He is always there, even when I forget about Him, just wanting to lift the weight off.