Climbing Higher

I stood at the bottom, harness tightened, nerves taut, completely focused. With a slow, deep breath, I reached out and found two good solid holds with each hand and one for my foot, then carefully lifted myself off of the ground. I had never climbed a rock wall before and certainly did not plan to when I got up that morning. But here I was…a camp counselor for a group of precious girls that wanted to climb the rock wall, and after standing at the bottom for a few minutes watching the others climb, I was ready to go up.  It was not easy, and at the halfway point I almost quit, but amazingly, I didn’t. I pulled up past the split in the wall, got well positioned again, and kept climbing. As I looked up to the top and saw how close I was getting, it was as if I found new strength to keep pulling up higher. Then faster than I could have ever believed, I was there...I had reached the top! I was elated! The hardest part for me was getting down from the top of the wall. From the top, I had to rappel down while anchored to a person standing at the bottom. Looking down, it seemed like a really long way to drop, and I had such a gripping fear that the person at the bottom would let me go and I would fall (maybe not to my death, but to some serious pain!). In the end, I had to do what was required and rappel to the bottom. I was not dropped, although I screamed on the way down as if I were in complete and total free-fall; and not only did I survive, but God used the rock wall to teach me a few things.

First of all, when the time came for me to rappel, I had to completely put my trust in the person at the bottom that I was anchored to. I had to believe that they would not drop me. The Lord showed me that even when I’m unsure, even when my heart is filled with doubt or fear, He is holding me firm! He will never let me go. He holds me safely in His arms and I know that I am securely anchored in Him. I know that He won’t let me fall. And even in times when we are not firmly anchored in Him, and we do fall, He is swift to pick us up.

In those moments when I’m worshiping at His feet and distractions start to slip in, I hear Him saying to me, “Keep climbing…” He wants us to push past the circumstances we may be faced with and to push past what we are concerned about in order to worship Him with our whole heart. We don’t have to be anxious for anything, we don’t have to worry; we just prayerfully entrust everything to the Lord and know that He is big enough to take care of every minute detail.

There are times when my past mistakes and sins seem to stand before me, screaming out mocking and cruel words such as, “failure…hypocrite…unloved…lost cause…not good enough…sinner.” In those times, I remember the struggle of climbing the wall, and I hear my Father, who loves me beyond measure, softly saying, “Keep climbing…come up higher,” and I find the strength to press on.

And when the things I face in life feel unbearable and it seems like I will drown in discouragement, he says again, “I have made you an overcomer through the blood of my Son…now come up higher; it’s time to rise above…”

I’m so thankful that I was able to experience the rock wall. No matter what happens or what I may face, no matter how many times I have messed up in the past or have fallen and He has had to pick me up again, I am determined to keep climbing. I am resolved to press in and go higher in Him. My heart and my eyes are focused on my Savior, the One who gave His life for me, and I will not look down and allow my heart to be filled with fear, nor will I stop moving forward because of what is behind me. I will not give up or give in, but day by day, and moment by moment, I will climb higher.