Only Trust The Rock Which is Solid
I was holding on tight with my left hand while my right foot had a toe hold. My left foot dangled uselessly without a support. The small outcrop of rock on which it had been, crumbled when I took my weight off of it. My right hand searched, fruitlessly, for something on which to grab. Below me was over 100 feet of cliff face with another 50 feet or so of loose rock angling away from the cliff down to the lake. Above me was at least another 30 feet of cliff before reaching the safety of the angled, but grassy, top of the small mountain.
My brother was below and to my right trying to get past me so that he could lower a rope to me from our campsite at the top, but he also was having a hard time. I was in trouble and I knew it. I was starting to get “sewing machine leg” from putting my weight on it for too long. I wouldn’t last too much longer without being able to move or use my other leg for support. It was at this moment that the excellent hold my left hand was on… moved. Only the slightest fraction of an inch, but I felt it. I told my brother and he got nervous. We both knew what that meant and it wasn’t good. Time was very short. Life was in the balance.
I reached desperately around with my right hand but there was nothing but smooth rock. Then I felt the rock move again. I bent my right leg as much as I could, bound up my strength and leapt up as hard as I could, praying my hand would find a support. It landed and there was a rock outcrop large enough to wrap my whole hand around and it held my whole weight. I pulled hard on it and lifted myself up to find that just out of my sight there had been several places upon which to put my hands and feet. I quickly scrambled up the rest of the cliff and then lay, breathing hard, on the slopping turf near our campsite. I had to make that leap of faith and trust that the rock would be solid enough to save me.
Romans 9:33. as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Acts 4:10-12. let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Sometimes we want to keep clinging to shifting stones that will not save us, they will eventually let us fall. We are afraid to take that leap to the rock which will support us and lead us to life. Don’t wait for those unsure rocks to come loose and let you fall.