Between The Rock and A Hard Place

Between The Rock and A Hard Place

Collin Leong. January 13 2013

In October 2012, my son (Oliver, 14) and I went on weekend vacation in Chiang Mai, a city and province in Northern Thailand. Of all things, Oliver wanted to go rock climbing because in Singapore he could only climb man-made walls, but here we heard they have the real thing - natural limestone cliffs situated in a beautiful valley. Believe me, this sport would not have crossed my mind if I were vacationing alone! 

Our guide preparing the safety rope.
Enlarge to see him high up at the top.

So we booked the trip. The next day two guides drove us and another tourist (a more experienced climber from Holland named Mack) to a popular climbing spot called the Crazy Horse Buttress, less than 2 hours from the city. Then we hiked through a serenely beautiful forest trail to reach majestic rocky cliffs that shoot up to 60 metres into the blue sky. I would be content just to have a nice picnic here, but for the climb, I hadn’t a clue what to expect.

The first trouble came when I was forced to wear special climbing shoes two sizes smaller than my feet. No, I don’t have unusually big feet, but donning the excruciatingly tight and painful footwear was a mandatory requirement. I had to curl my toes downward in order to fit into those rubber tipped shoes.  It was explained to me that this is to prevent the tip of my foot from bending up during the vertical climb, which could then cause me to slip.

Many non-climbers (like me) assumed that you need to have strong arm muscles and hand grip to climb well. "Not true", said my guides; they have seen body builders giving up but scrawny 70-year-olds making it to the top.  You see, the secret is in finding a ledge, a crevice, a crack, or a cleft in the rock face and then stubbing your toes really hard into it for a firm hold. That’s the reason for the tight boots – with it, even small dimples a centimeter deep in the rock face are good enough to support your whole body weight. Each step will rely on the solid footing and upper leg muscles to push up. The hands are used more for balancing and short burst of “hanging” to give you time to move your foot to the next toe hold. There are no gloves for your hands, so if you attempt to pull yourself up too often, you will end up cutting your fingers on the sharp flinty rocks.  

The climb took a lot more energy and stamina and I expected. I had to use muscles that I didn’t know I have. The most difficult part is to find the toe holds, and to stop relying on my hands and arms too much. Sometimes the toe holds are very far apart – I had to bend and stretch my whole body just so that the arms and feet can spread far enough to get a grip on the next viable ledge or crevice.

The smoother the rock face, the harder to climb.
Click Here For U-Tube Video on climbing the Crazy Horse Buttress

On a particularly challenging cliff, where the rock face was relatively smooth, I had difficulty finding the next toe hold. I was hugging the rock face 25 metres up high, with painful toes and cramping arms and couldn't decide where to put my foot next. I almost went into a panic-induced paralysis, where I just didn't want to move though I was in pain because to move may mean losing my grip. And I was too proud to admit I'm stuck and to ask to be lowered down by the ropes! Up there, you are truly alone.

But the guides on the ground were watching this and were helpful, as they shouted to me, pointing me to the bext next position. I thought they were crazy as that would mean I had to let go my existing "safe" position and reaching out very far to footholds that I can't even see clearly. But with a burst of courage, I took that lunatic gymnastic lunge and miraculously managed to stub my toes into one of the surface dimples and balanced myself by inserting my hands into a narrow crack in the rocks.

Long story short, we survived the three cliffs that we attempted and when I reached the top of one, I was rewarded with a panaromic vista of the entire valley. We went back to the hotel with aching bodies but I was very pleased with myself for still being able to pull this off at 47!

Rewarding view after making it to the top

As I reflected that experience, it came to my mind how the Bible frequently use "rock" as a beautiful imagery of who God is or what He is to us.  One of the most well known verse is Psalms 18:2:

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold"

The image of a rock fortress, like the majestic limestone cliffs of Chiang Mai tells of God's unchanging and faithful character, from eternity past. When I first beheld those awesome cliffs, I felt so insignificant, and as if I was looking back into time where nothing has changed since the beginning of creation. It was just always there, always waiting, always accommodating, always protecting. In the olden days, whenever Israel was invaded by enemies, the people would flee to the limestone mountains to hide. The enemies would have difficulty fighting their way up the rugged paths. God, like those mountain hideouts, are our refuge, our salvation and high tower.  We sometimes realize this intimately only when we are in some sort of danger or depression, but He has been there for me and you all the time.

Enlarge to see the climber in the cave

The verse also says God is "whom I will trust". The biggest fear I had when climbing the rocks were whether the limestone ledges and flints where I stuck my toe into will crumble and give way as I push myself up. It seems to me an awful lot of weight and pressure is being forced on that thin slice of flint. But to my amazement, not once did any of the ledge or flint ever gave way. When I have complete trust in my foot hold, I was able to climb more confidently. To ensure I'm securely supported, I must dig deep into the rock's crevices with my toes before pushing up. 

In the same way we learn to trust God by digging deep into his Word, believing in His promises and putting His precepts into daily practice. Knowledge, Faith, and Obedience.

The Bible also explicitly represented Jesus as the rock of our salvation. When the children of Israel were wandering in the dessert after escaping from the slavery of Egypt, they almost died of thirst. Moses asked God what to do, and God said:

"I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel." (Exodus 17:6) 

The unexpected object, a rock, became the source of life-saving and life-sustaining water to the people.  Paul, in 1 Cor 10:4, reminded believers that "the rock was Christ." Jesus, God incarnate, was the Rock of Ages who came in human form to give life to souls perishing from spiritual thirst. God asked Moses to "strike" the rock - symbolizing that Christ must suffer and be sacrificed in order for the eternal-life giving spirit be poured out to all who would receive and drink of it. At the same moment when Jesus died on the cross, it was said that there was a great earthquake and "rocks were rent" (Mat 27:51) - its only with the fissures and cracks in the mountain surface that I, as a climber, can find my foothold, and I as a sinner can find refuge.

Eternal Life in the Rock

That day I saw a small but lovely flowering plant growing out of the rock face that reminded me of God's dual characteristic - a Holy Creator who must judge sin, and a Loving Father who justified us through the death of His own son.  Truth and Mercy unite.

It is not easy to climb up a rock surface and it is extremely dangerous to do it without using a safety rope. Our guide made the first climb and pull a rope through the bolt anchors that had been firmly implanted (hammered or drilled in) vertically along the cliff, about 5 metres apart. The end of the rope is then tied to a harness fastened around my waist. The other end that comes out of the top most anchor is held by the guide on the ground, so that should I accidentally slip, he would hold the rope tight and I would be suspended in mid-air by the anchors and not fall.  But for all this to work, someone would have to make the first climb in order to secure the anchors into the mountain side in the first place. That first climb would have been the most dangerous and could only have been accomplished by an expert climber.

The bible says Jesus was our forerunner. "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." (Hebrews 6:19,20)

The rope, which is anchored into the rock's surface, not only secures me safely to the mountain but also shows me the best path to take as I climb, so that I don't end up in situations that I have no foothold to go forward nor backwards. Jesus knew the way because He came from the Father, and He is showing the way to us by being the first to rise from the dead, so that we too, who follow His way, shall be Resurrected into eternal life.

We must not lose sight that the imagery of the Rock is also of judgment and punishment. In Daniel 2:34-35, Daniel interpreted a dream where a statue symbolizing powerful kingdoms and nations were struck and destroyed by a "stone cut out without hands" and the stone became a great mountain that filled the whole earth. This speaks of Christ when he comes to judge and rule the earth. Jesus referred to Himself as the "Chief Corner Stone" who was rejected, but those who rejected Him will one day be "broken to pieces" when they fall upon this Stone. (Matthew 21:41-45).

Lastly, like the helpful guides who held the rope for me and encouraged me on, let us also prompt each other onward up the Rock of Our Salvation, as for some of us, the journey may not be so easy. But remember, whenever you are stuck between the rock and a hard place, always choose the Rock.