Picture a dear one, someone so dear that you would willingly die for them; you would not even have to pause to consider it. Picture them struggling, hanging on to a sheer cliff, jagged rocks and darkness and raging waters below them. You claw your way to them, leaning down, desperately trying to reach them, desperately trying to pull them up to safety. You move huge boulders out of the way, you search with eagle eyes for the straightest path, and shout at the top of your lungs, go here, go there. You spend all that you have purchasing ropes, with special ties, with strong anchors, tossing them down, but none reaches them….some seem to come close, but your loved one will not reach out for them, they cling to the wall, sometimes they make a tiny bit of progress up, sometimes they slip and fall back, losing all ground they have achieved. You watch them beat against the rock; you see the blood on them, the wounds caused by the jagged edges of the sheer rock face they fight against. Others gather with you at the top of the cliff, shouting down words of encouragement, bits of advice, and pieces of rope……to no avail.
You are willing to fling yourself right off this cliff, and die on the rocks below in order to save the struggling one….but you cannot….you are willing to take their place upon this sheer and brutal rock face, despite your desperate fear of heights…….but you cannot. You are willing to spend all that you own and be with nothing at all, to save them from this desperate perch…….but you cannot.
A grim word picture, so far it is a desperate place to be, an uncomfortable place to be, but there is the unseen, that we must consider. The unseen, which we so often fail to consider. We in our desperation move heaven and earth in our efforts to change things, to save things, to save people we love, to make things right again, to redeem that which is lost, to give life to the dead and lifeless…….we beat our hands and our heads against the rocks in our attempts to do that which we are unable to do. It is not our place to be the change, to be the redeemer, to be the life giver, to be the restorer. We (and I am speaking to Christians here) are to be people of faith, we are to live our lives in a manner that shows Christ and we are to depend upon Him utterly for everything. He is the Change, He is the Redeemer, He is the Life Giver, and He is the Restorer.
As we open our eyes to these truths, we once again gaze down upon our word picture. We see the dear one hanging still upon the jagged rock face, their hands and face still bloody and sweaty from their efforts, their fingers clinched tightly to the rock, their limbs trembling from the weight of it all and from their efforts as they labor up an inch and fall back three………we see these things, but we also now see the harness wrapped about our dear one. And as we gaze through the darkness that engulfs them, we see One standing upon the rocks, the Belayer, He holds the rope, the unseen rope, and we are now able to stand, to drop the many ropes we carry upon the ground, to cease from our efforts to clear a path, to stop shouting out words of advice unheeded……..we are able to let go, our love no less fierce than it was, but our faith renewed. It was never our task to save, it was never our task to heal, and it was never our task to restore…..it was always His.
This dear one we watch struggle might be for some an actual person, it might be for others a life situation, a job, possession or situation that you are working with all your might to save or change. The principle is the same regardless of what your “dear one” is. Let go, unclasp your hand, loosen your grip, let it slide into the hands of the only One able to do anything of value with it. He will either deliver it safely to the top, to the place where you want it, or He will let it fall into His arms, either way, He is the Belayer, He holds the rope, the only rope……stop trying to take His place when you have not the strength nor the wisdom to see the big picture. He knows best and whatever He brings about, regardless of whether it is your will or not, will be that which is best.
Belayer:
1) Someone who provides a belay
Belay:
1) To secure (as a rope)
2) To make fast
3) To secure (a person) at the end of a rope
4) To secure (a rope) to a person or object
5) To be made fast
