Rock Climbing

By Julie Cosgrove

Sometimes we need another perspective on things. We can get so caught up in the fog our little world that it can obscure our vision of everything else. We can’t see the big picture, the forest for the trees as the saying goes. Like peering through smudged and scratched up glasses, we see things skewed and out of focus. Sometimes, we don’t even realize it. We just get used to viewing things that way.

I have always been short. I remember I used to love to climb as a child – climb onto a table top, a tree limb, the roof.  One of my nicknames was monkey. I got tired of seeing everything from the level of knee caps and hips. The world was fresh and new when I was higher up. I could scope out more of what was around me – it was freeing to see a whole new view of my world.  Perhaps that is why Psalm 61:2 is meaningful to me. It says –
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I . . .

Christ is our firm foundation – the rock of our salvation. He is lifted up higher than we are. He has a Heavenly view of things, not a worldly one. His view is above the low lying clouds of worry and strife that can weigh us down, closes in around us, make us feel gloomy and heavy. Like a child on her parent’s shoulders, with Christ, I can see clearly above the crowds and yet still feel safe and secure. I can better view not only what He wants me to see, but how He wants me to see my circumstances and those of others. My focus is no longer on me, but the world through His eyes, the eyes of love, compassion and trust.  

But how do we get to the Rock?  The psalmist says we must be led.  Faith leads us to the Rock. Prayer lifts us up and hoists us to higher places – Heavenly realms.

We all get down, feel closed in and lowly. You might say, as Paul did in his letter to the Romans, we all fall short.  If that is where your focus is today, make the climb onto the shoulders of your Lord. Pray for a new perspective – a broader, more encompassing view.  It’s a whole different scene when you get higher than yourself. 

Go to the Rock- then climb, climb, climb. Just remember rock climbers travel light. So to make the climb easier, leave your burdens that have been weighing you down behind at the base of the cross. Get them off your back. They’ll be safe there. God will take care of them for you. You won’t need them on the Rock.