Climbing a rock wall is exhausting.
Years ago, I bouldered at a rock gym in Pennsylvania. For me, exercise was too repetitive unless it engaged my mind. On occasional visits, I attacked the artificial rock wall with little warmup, scrambling up and crawling sideways on my fingers and toes. Fifteen minutes in, my forearms quivered and all but gave out. I left the gym proud of what I could do without a harness.
On one visit, I decided to go higher. Strapped into a harness, I climbed, conscious of how I looked to the belayer on the ground. I thought I was doing an okay job. The belayer, however, was not impressed.
“Use your legs!” he shouted.
“Okay!” I responded, realizing I was placing my toes.
After a few seconds, he repeated, “Use your legs. You’re not using your legs.”
I reached the top and stretched to ring the bell. Back on the ground, the belayer asked if I wanted to go again. I declined and showed him my shivering arms.
“Your legs,” he answered, “are much stronger than your arms. You’re relying on the strength of your arms. You’ll tire out quickly if you do that.”
That made sense. Although I assented, I still could not translate leg motion into action.
As a follower of Christ, God has shown me this is how I approach everything. I attack difficult things as I attacked that rock wall: relying on my limited strength to climb and succeeding, only to be wiped out.
God does not want us to rely on our own strength. When faced with obstacles, we should fear God, humble ourselves, and ask Him for direction instead of climbing on our own strength and then asking Him to bless our weak attempts.
If we rely on God when we face challenges, He will give us all the strength we need.
How can you give your challenges to the Lord and allow Him to strengthen you?
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
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Aimee Haessly is a former actress who was saved by Christ in her late forties. A graduate student in biblical studies at Southern Evangelical Seminary, she is applying her education to writing and public speaking for the glory of the Lord. Aimee has one adult son and lives in Charlotte with her husband, Steve, and their spoiled miniature poodle.