Romancing The Rock

Ever felt like you’re trapped? Like the walls are closing in on you? Like there’s no way out?

Kind of like those movies where the leading lady runs to one exit to find it is blocked by fire. She runs to another exit, but no, the bad guys are coming in that way. And looking out the window, she sees nothing but a sheer drop of twenty floors to the merciless pavement below her. But, of course, there is a ruggedly handsome bloke hanging precarioulsy by a cable with his hand outstretched, saying, “Take my hand! Trust me! It’s the only way!”

When life gets like that–maybe not literally, but it feels that way–what is your response? Do you curl up into the fetal position and wish the world would just stop spinning so you could step off? Or, do you look at your circumstances like David looked at Goliath, and say, “now it’s time for God to shine”?

God lead Moses and the Israelites to the Red Sea, only they found they were being pursued by the Egyptians. There was no way to turn to escape from Pharaoh, so they had no choice but to turn to God. And He, in turn, performed a miracle by opening the sea for them to pass through safely.

I am reminded of a dream I once had where I was walking along an extremely narrow ledge on a cliff face. On my left the wall towered above me and on my right it dropped away to nothing, and the path was growing thinner all the while. Then a cave opened up in the wall to my left and it even had a door. To my right a vine dangled, swaying in the breeze. There were three paths before me: the narrow ledge ahead, the wide cave, and the vine. I awoke to hear a voice in my spirit. “I don’t want you to go the easy way, I don’t even want you to go the hard way, I want you to go the way of faith.” My pastor later asked me if I was sure it was a vine. He pointed out that Jesus is the vine according to the Bible. (John 15)

So, when the path becomes difficult, when your choices grow thin, when it feels like there’s no way out, I encourage you not to give up and become discouraged. Cling to the Vine! Because maybe…just maybe…God is setting you up for a miracle.

For nothing is impossible with God. [Luke 1:37 NIV]