“Life ascends to the heights for the thoughtful – it’s a clean about-face from descent into hell.” (Proverbs 15.24)
Too often I reflect backwards. I see the future in terms of the past, never wondering if the link I assume to be there is really there are all. I grasp at the string linking my today with yesterday and find that it is tenuous at best with little to indicate that it points in any direction that might be my future. When I look forward I see a rope hanging; much like a rock climb on Hurricane Island years ago.
It was a cloudy, cool, and misty day on an island in a bay on the central coast of Maine. Each person in our watch was given a challenging route to attempt our first climb. The experience was intended to stretch our individual boundaries of trust. As I climb outwards and upwards my trust was indeed stretched! My feelings had nothing to do with the belay; I knew that the lady on the other end wanted to prove that my trust in her was valid so it was easy to let fear go.
In contrast, the instructors giving me directions wanted to place me in a situation I could not handle! At about eighty feet in the air I had reached a clear dead-end. I help myself up by a sticking my heel in a small indentation in the rock and my searching arms confirmed that the rock in all directions mirrored a new baby’s cheeks. As I reached out I heard something rattle down the rock-face. I looked down, seeking directions. The shout came up –
“Jump.”
Just beyond my grasp was a strong rope hanging out in space.
God offers us evidence of His love, compassion, mercy, acceptance, and involvement each day. In the end the decision rests with each of us individually. To exercise faith, to journey in trust is life. Either trust in yourself or trust in God.
The choice must be made; link to the past or God’s line to the future?
