God is my Belayer

In all my excitement to start rock climbing, I fumbled with my harness and didn’t know where to clip what, where. Once finally situated, it dug too deep into my thigh. But I didn’t take the risk of a loose harness – my life depended on the weaved mass.

After exchanging less than convincing commands with my belayer, I faced the rock and realized it’s a lot bigger than it looked. I started to back away, and looked at my belayer to wave the white flag of surrender. But my belayer encouraged me to climb on! I sighed and succumbed to peer pressure, mostly because I didn’t know how to get the darned harness off anyways.

I hugged the rock, groping it for a hold, any hold. My feet balanced on a small crack, which was a little too unsteady. I was now a mere foot off the ground, but it might as well have been a mile. I had doubts about reaching the top, about whether I tied my knots correctly, if the carabineer was locked, if my belayer was paying attention…can I even reach the next hold?! Will I survive this climb?!

Rock climbing is like a Christian’s life. The more you focus on the task at hand, the closer you get to achieving your goal. The more distracted you get, the longer you hang suspended, getting more weary by the second.

You cannot always see your belayer, but you must trust that they are there. By trying to hang on to your rope, you become more reliant on your own strength, and too often, end up hurting your body and ego alike.

You must let go of your rope, and trust your belayer. You must trust that they will be there when you fall, and that they are watching your every move. The more confidence you have in your belayer, the more graceful your movements become.

God is our belayer. He is there to coach us, catch us, and encourage us.