Rock Climbing

The writer Reuben Job has instructed me to start each day this week with the words of the Psalmist found in the 61st Psalm:

Hear my cry, O God;

listen to my prayer.

From the end of the earth I call to you,

when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock

that is higher than I;

for you are my refuge,

Lead me to a rock that is higher than I.

These words have become convicting words to me - touching my mind, my heart and especially my spirit. Lead me to a rock that is higher than I.

I have chosen too often to stay in the valley of myself and the way things are rather than the way things can be. I check our property values often and worry that we'll never be able to live in more than a one-bedroom condo. I read articles about how interest rates are forecasted to increase and worry about what our payments will be in the future as I recognize how far under-water we are today on our home values versus what we paid. I know bits and pieces of family situations and worry about people I love. I so often choose to stay in this valley of worry and despair. I so often fail to see how great God is, limiting the powers of God instead. I too often choose to wrestle with situations in my mind, going over a dozen different scenarios, instead of turning to God and praying these powerful words.

Lead me to a rock that is higher than I.

I look at the number of unhoused people in our community and wonder if we'll ever solve the problem of homelessness. I listen to the words of a colleague who shared with me recently how he works three jobs and still only made $26,000 last year - a person who is struggling hard to get his life back in order and defy the odds stacked against him as a former convict - and I wonder if we'll ever learn to trust that God gives second chances no matter what a person has done. I think about the situation in Egypt and the protests that are taking place and I wonder if peace will be found.

Lead me to a rock that is higher than I.

The Psalmist knows the power of God. The Psalmist is aware that we do not have to remain where we are - that we worship a God who longs to take us from our broken places in the valley and place us on a high rock, to lift us up from despair and into hope, to open a door where we can only see a closed door. Our God is an awesome God.

Lead me to a rock that is higher than I. Help me, God, to not worry but to trust in you. Show me how big you are. Reveal yourself to me and to our world. Enable me to see your movement in my life and call me to respond in places where I can assist. Lead me to a rock that is higher than I. Help me stand in high places of trust and comfidence with you. Amen.