High Wire

High Wire- Author Unknown

In 1940 a great high wire artist was putting on a performance over Niagara Falls. A cable had been stretched from Canada to the US. He started from the Canadian side and was crossing to America. In front he was pushing a wheelbarrow. One foot at a time he crossed the wire, below millions of tons of water were crashing over the falls. The artist with nerves of steel pushes his wheelbarrow across. As he reaches the American side wild cheers were sent up, drowning out the roar of the great falls. He stood alone on the platform, hands raised high, and yelled to the crowd below. “Do you believe I can do it again?” The crowd went into a frenzied roar. He yelled again, “Do I have a volunteer to ride in the wheelbarrow?” All you could hear was the roar from the falls, the crowd was silent.

A lot of Christians believe God, but they are afraid to trust their lives to Him. How sad. Imagine what a wild ride they will miss. Jesus’ hands on the wheelbarrow, taking us high above life’s problems, the rest of the crowd looking up, wishing. Just wishing.
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I remember a picture I had in my office several years ago. It showed an adorable kitten with a panicked look on its face, claws from all four paws frantically gripping a couple of knots in a rope. The caption said, “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”  I love search engines because, even tho that picture disappeared long ago, I found it again:

Life can be that way often, can’t it? I have found a very special knot to hang on to in those times. My Knot has also been called the Rock. Psalm 18:2 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” This is a rock that will never crumble, never fall away, never fail me. I am so grateful to have my Rock in my life, especially when the hard times come. I can tie myself to that Knot, that Rock, and hang on until the storm passes. I hope that you also have this Rock in your life, because storms will come, do come, or maybe are already here. Tie yourself to the Knot and hang on!

Have a blessed day!

April 8: The Rope

 

The Rope- Author Unknown

A story is told about a mountain climber who liked to climb tall mountains for fun and to impress his friends. After years of preparation and training he felt he could handle any mountain terrain in the world, regardless of the degree of difficulty.

During a climbing trip, with five other men, he decided he would make the final climb to the summit, solo, so he could get there first and claim the glory, while the others slept. After the rest of the climbing party turned-in for the night, he put on his climbing gear and headed toward the summit. As he started his climb, he was very glad there was a full moon to help him see where he was going.

Although it was foolish to climb at night, alone, he did use a rope and put in good piton protection as he climbed. With the benefit of the full moon, he made rapid progress up the mountain, in spite of the fact he was climbing at night. His confidence soared as he neared the summit, but unfortunately, thick clouds were starting to build around the mountain, and visibility was deteriorating rapidly, as a winter storm developed. In just a few minutes visibility dropped to almost zero, as heavy clouds and fog surrounded him. It was now too late to turn back, so he continued to climb up the mountain, hoping the storm would blow by quickly.

While moving along a narrow traverse, now in total darkness, he got into some “rotten rock,” and slid down the side of the ridge and over the edge of a cliff. The good news is the protection he put in held, and he was still alive after the fall; although he now found himself dangling in the air, suspended from his rope, unable to see anything around him. The bad news is, he had loosely tied his outer heavy parka across the top of his backpack while he was climbing, and he now discovered he had lost it during the fall. Slowly the cold night air from the storm began to chill him to the bone through his lightweight inner jacket. After struggling to turn himself around in a circle, and not finding anything to grab onto, in desperation he cried out, “Oh dear God in Heaven, please help me!”

Suddenly, from above he heard a strong deep voice boom out, “Cut the rope!”

“What?!”

As the climber listened over the wind, once again he heard a deep voice say, “Cut the rope!”

Except for the wind, silence followed, as the climber continued to hang onto the rope, while hoping to be able to grab onto something that would enable him to climb to safety. Unable to see his true situation, the climber concluded, as most people would, that hanging onto the rope was his only hope.

The following day, the rest of his climbing party discovered him frozen to death, still dangling from his rope — only eight feet above a large out-cropping of rock. Had the climber cut the rope, he would have dropped down to a relatively safe area, where he could have built a fire, using some of the surrounding scrub brush, and probably survived the night.

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Have you ever heard the saying, “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on?”  It is attributed to Franklin D Roosevelt.  I have always loved this picture associated with it:

God is that knot at the end of my rope and when life blindsides me, I grab Him and hold on as tightly as I can.  Isaiah 41:13 tells us, “For I am the Lord your Godwho takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear;I will help you.”  He may not always send that help in the form I desire or imagine, but He does send help.  And His methods always surpass what I had imagined in the beginning!

There is another way in which I see God associated with a rope.  A rope is often seen as a rescue device, being thrown out to someone in order to pull them to safety.  In this respect, Christ is my rope.  His sacrifice on the cross enabled Him to become my lifeline and through Him I gain access to a personal relationship with God and a home one day in Heaven.  John 1:12 assures us, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”

If you haven’t latched on to this Rope above all ropes, I encourage you to grab a Bible and read the first four books of the New Testament.  Meet the Savior, He is there waiting for you!

Have a blessed day!