Do You Trust Enough to Cut the Rope?

Timing is everything when it comes to our walk in faith.

Ever sit in the pew on Sunday and feel like the priest picked out his homily or the readings just for you? Or maybe when you open your Bible no matter the day or circumstance the pages fall just open right where you need them? This is of course all coincidence or just human nature right? Or is it?

Have you sat in a doctor’s office and anticipated the worst news ever? Did you pray and trust or did you allow the anxiety and angst build up in the moment? What about when your boss says he needs to meet with you and you don’t have a scheduled meeting? Or maybe its your own self-doubt that has a hold of you. Are you tied to the things of this world so tightly that you cannot see letting go?

We try to control every aspect of our lives, not only our present, future but even our own pasts.

This past weekend at church the readings brought  some truth and honesty from our priest. In his homily he shared challenges that he had faced before entering the priesthood. Challenges that any young man who was in a relationship that had ended would encounter. Self-doubt was overwhelming him at the moment when he should have been closest to God.

He shared a portion of a homily that the priest back then had shared with him, a story that we could all relate to. This story of putting your trust in God really hit home.

The story is told of a mountain climber who desperately wanted to conquer the Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Argentine Andes. He initiated his climb after years of preparation. Because he wanted the glory all to himself, he went up alone.

As the day passed and it began to get dark, he did not stop to camp for the night but kept going. Night fell. There was no moon. Clouds covered the stars. Visibility was zero. Everything was black.

As the climber neared a ridge at about a hundred meters from the top, he slipped and fell into the total darkness below. In those anguishing moments when he was in free fall, memories flashed through his mind, both good and bad. He was certain he would die.

But then a jolt almost tore him in half. Like any sensible mountain climber, he had used pitons and a long rope tied around his waist to stake himself to the mountain. The top piton held, and the rope broke his fall.

He groped in the darkness for the side of the mountain, but it was out of reach. In the terrifying moments that followed, as he hung suspended, he cried out in desperation, “Help me, God ! Help me ! “. Then he heard a voice from Heaven. ” Cut the rope !”

” What ? “

” Cut the rope !”

More stillness followed, as the man held all the tighter and swung slowly back and forth, hoping in vain to make contact with the side of the mountain.

Other climbers found him the next day, still hanging from the mountain, frozen to death … two feet above a wide ledge. Unseen by him, the ledge would have been a safe spot where he could have dropped, recovered, built a small fire for warmth, and camped for the night.

It’s a sad story that one can hope is not true, yet it points out our own flaws. Do you depend on things of this world? Is your “rope” holding you back from your relationship and trust of God? Putting your trust in Him can change your life, both your present, future and even your past. We are not bound by the things of this world and were all made for more.

Your story does not need to end like this one did, God is the author and you are the pen. Put your trust in Him and cut the rope, He has big plans for you all you have to do let go and trust He will catch you.