Rocks surround us everywhere. Our houses are built from them, we work in buildings made from them. Foundations to buildings are laid with rock. Natural rock seems beautiful to me, the gnarly rocks with crevices. Some architects think that cement may be exciting and beautiful to look at, but that does not impress me, it just looks smooth and cold.

But I understand its power of protection against the weather. 

This picture shows the grains of the rock, the weathered face of the natural shaped rock, worn away with the years. Standing as a reminder of the passing years that have gone by and how it reminds us of the long years that have past.

There is history within the rock.

I used to go rock climbing on the outcrops of Runcorn Hill’s quarry in Cheshire. The sandstone outcrops were perfect for messing around trying to conquer the cliff faces that it presented you with. As a sport climbing has developed so many safety devices to help you get up a rock face without injuring yourself. There are devices that fit into these crevices that belay you to the rock in case of a fall. Mostly I just free climbed, that’s climbing with no ropes or protection. But climbing this way I found I had to climb calmly and I had to know as well as gradually push my limits.

Climbing calmly, knowing and pushing your limits.

1 Corinthians 10:4

For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Having faith and following Christ is like climbing this rock.

• It requires a degree of trust – Trust when you are climbing, that the rock will not crumble. Christ if He was a type of rock would probably not be sandstone, as it does crumble too much. But following your faith you have to have a trust in Christ, a trust in God that He is leading you to a place that will be wonderful.
• It requires calm consideration to climb – To go through life following God requires calm consideration. When God calls it requires us to discern whether this really is God calling or just one of our own ambitions. On the big decisions in life we must consult God and wait. Calm consideration takes time. We can’t just role a dice and say God wants me to do this.
• When I was climbing I knew my own abilities. I wouldn’t try to climb something that I wasn’t able to, that would be foolhardy. God doesn’t suddenly give us supernatural abilities. He certainly can do if He wants, but chooses not to. God has designed us and so He knows how much we can take, how much we must take in this journey.
• When I was climbing, I would train on lower walls so that I built up my strength and abilities. For God’s mission we must build up our strength – that building up is the single most important thing we do – Prayer is that building up…..we must pray to build up strength.

I pray that we will listen with discernment for Gods call. I pray we may drink from Christ’s spiritual rock on a daily basis. I pray that we may not be tested beyond what we may be able to take.

In Jesus name

Amen

with blessings

Graham