THE BENEFITS OF THE REPEL TOWER
I am not a fan of great heights. I have never been able to stand on the edge of a high cliff or at the top of a tall building without a quick heart beat and a dry throat. I have no problem with climbing a high hill or mountain, but to stand on the edge of falling is not something I enjoy!
Toward the end of Marine Corps Basic Training there is a training event known as the confidence course. It is a series of high obstacles, fast rope lines, and at the end of it is a four-story repel tower. It was one of the most frightening experiences of all of basic training for me because of my lack of appreciation for high places. The way it works is that you have to climb up the side of the repel tower and then, once at the top, there is a person there who helps you to connect your waist harness to the repel rope and guides you as you plant both feet firmly on the edge and slowly lean out backwards until you are standing completely horizontal, parallel to the ground. The only thing between you and certain disaster is a rope and firm grip! This was the most terrifying part for me. The time of leaning out, that moment when you must let go of trust in the platform and place your trust completely in the rope.
The first time I did it, I was terrified, and I went down rather ungracefully. A few years later, I was attending an academy for Non Commissioned Officers called the Sergeant’s Course. Much to my dismay, they too had a repel tower that was part of the final week of training. While I was equally nervous about the affair, I was not fully terrified. The past experience of having gone through the repel tower event and living to tell the tale, had given me a sense of much greater trust in the rope.
In this life, we are constantly facing difficult circumstances in our life. From the bottom of the repel tower the height looked very frightening and you know what? From the top, it looked even more frightening! But imagine if you will the perspective of God. From on high, from the throne of God the height of the repel tower is little more than a road bump on an almost flat landscape.
What’s more is that not only are our circumstances very small and manageable from the "top down" perspective, God is in the midst of the circumstance with us; He is not only on high viewing us from an eternal top down perspective, He is in it with us from the "bottom up!"
God’s promises are true, they are trustworthy, and because He reigns sovereign over all of His creation, they will surely come to pass. The Sovereign Lord of the Universe does not make promises that He does not keep! "Is there anything that is too hard for the Lord?" Certainly not!