Rock Climbing

I just saw the most amazing video.  A 13-year old girl climbs a huge rock-climbing wall that ends up bending and curving over an Olympic sized pool.  She has no harness or safety equipment.  If she loses her grip, she falls into the water.

She’s a tiny thing.  From my vantage point, she doesn’t have huge muscles in her arms.  If I didn’t see her climbing with my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that she was that strong.  While climbing, she frequently dips one hand at a time into a small pouch that is tied around her waist.  At first, I thought she was shaking her hands out before she grabbed unto another rung.  On closer examination, I could see that the pouch contained chalk.

I forgot to mention that this girl was not climbing alone.  She was actually in a competition against a grown woman.  The woman was taller and had won climbing competitions before.  The teenager was up against a fierce opponent.

You may not know this, but I root for the underdog.  I’m a champion of those who are counted out.  Maybe because I’m often counted out.  So, I watched this video with my heart in my throat.  The teenager would chalk and chalk her hands as the woman climbed higher and further away from her.  The teenager would test her grip and push up.  Making progress.  But slow progress.  She was trailing farther behind.

Many of the transitions to higher levels required extraordinary upper arm strength.  They required confidence.  They required determination.  The teenager chalked and maintained her focus as her opponent reached higher heights.  And then it happened.  As the woman reached one of the more difficult parts of the course, she fell into the pool.  The announcer told the teenager that she had one minute to reach her competitor’s highest point.

At this point, I’m a bundle of nerves.  I mean I’m just watching the video in the comfort of my home.  She’s the one that’s actually going through it.  Will she be able to pull through and reach the summit?  She’s a tiny thing.  She’s come so far but has been able to progress at her own pace up until this point.  I’ll end your suspense.  She not only surpassed the woman’s highest point, but she actually made it to the top of the wall.

I was so happy for her!  I’m not a fan of heights, so I instantly started looking for the ladder that was going to take her to the bottom.  The teenager closed up her sack.  The announcer said that it was now time for her to jump into the pool.  It was the only way to get down.  According to him, the jump has been difficult for her in the past.  Wait what?!?!  She has to jump down?????  Naw….this is too much.  She climbed down the wall until it began to curve.  Then she let go and fell into the pool.

This video did something to me in case you can’t tell.  If you passed her on the street, you would not know the power that this teenager possesses.  But when placed in an environment that she has trained for, you can see her strength.  Christians need to be exhibiting that strength in our everyday lives.  We get our training at church, but our true power should be seen in the world.  The environment that we have been trained for.

The world is our rock-climbing wall.  We can’t be distracted by other saints that seem to do it better or handle it with stride.  We keep our own pace.  We focus on our path.  I like to think of the chalk as the Word of God.  If we keep our hands in it, it helps reduce the possibility that we’ll slip.  Sometimes, we have to keep dipping before we can climb higher.  That’s okay.  The only climb we can complete is our own.  We’ll make it to the top saints.  Hopefully, we won’t have to jump into the pool.  If we do, I’m just going to have to ask Jesus to come see about me.  #wepreach