Life on the Edge

As a child, I was extremely afraid of heights. I think it stemmed back to a time when my dad pretended he was going to throw me off the bridge of the ship when I was just a preschooler. I could climb a tree or walk across a low bridge, but there was no way I could stand on the edge of a cliff or stand at the edge of a balcony in a skyscraper.

In High School I had the opportunity to go mountain climbing with a group in Wyoming. We had a guide that showed us how to sink anchors and use rope and carabiners to ensure we would not fall. I was doing good. I even took time to hang from the rope a few times so I could take some photos, but I wouldn’t look down.

About half way up the mountain side I lost my camera lens cap. Of course, I looked down to watch it bounce along rock after rock as it fell. That was my first moment of terror as I realized just how high up we were and how far down the fall would be.

After we reached the top, we all experienced an excitement that is difficult to describe. We had conquered a mountain. It was like standing on the moon. We wanted to plant a flag to let the world know that we had achieved something incredible.

But that feeling would soon vanish like the wispy clouds that swirled around the tops of the mountains. Our guide hammered an anchor into a rock near the edge and tied the rope off onto a nearby tree. He then started explaining to us how to safely repel down the mountain.

I listened as he explained how we must trust in the rope. He explained that he would be up top the entire time to help make sure the rope is secure so that we can completely trust that the rope will hold us and that we will be safe. Then one by one our group started going over the edge. I heard many shouts, some from fear and some from joy. Then it was my turn.

I strapped on my gear, attached and secured the rope, and walked over to the edge of the cliff. What I saw was terrifying. A 3000 foot drop straight down until the first ledge. I think I may have made some involuntary sounds of fear as my hands had a death grip on the rope. 

I wanted to climb back toward the guide, but my feet felt like lead and my legs felt like jelly. I was frozen. I couldn’t go down and I couldn’t move away from the edge. The guide got my attention and said very calmly, “You have two options: 1.) you can trust the rope and go down, or 2.) you can spend the night on the mountain alone.”

Have you ever been on the edge, where you find yourself with very limited options? Life on the edge can be terrifying or exciting. Life on the edge can be a story of success or of failure. Being on the edge means that you have stepped out of your comfort zone and have chosen to take a chance, to push the limit, to live life rather than watch it pass you by, to face your fears and choose whether to go over or to go back.

Against All Odds

David was a simple shepherd that often found himself out on the edge. David was the youngest of eight boys in his family. His three eldest brothers had gone to war to fight against the Philistines. David’s father asked him to take some food to his brothers and to check on how the battle was going.

While there, David discovered that the battle had come to a halt because the Philistines had sent out a giant named Goliath with a challenge to the Israelites to battle him one on one. The Bible says that Goliath was about 9 feet 9 inches tall. The average Israelite was about 4 feet shorter. 

Previously, an Israelite man had declared: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the household of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.” (1 Samuel 17:25, HCSB)

David discovered that, even with the promise of such riches, the men of Israel were afraid of Goliath and refused to fight him. David then told King Saul that he would fight Goliath. At first the king refuses to allow him because he was just a youth. We are unsure exactly how old David was at this time, but most bible scholars believe he was between 12 and 15 years old.

David convinced the king to let him fight:

David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:34-37, HCSB)

David was obviously tall for his age because the king gives David his own personal armor and it apparently fits David. The Bible indicates that Saul was a head taller than most men (1 Samuel 9:2), so we can guess that at this point David was about 6’3”. Although the armor fit, David told the king that he was not used to wearing the armor and refused to take it with him into battel.

Instead, David went to fight Goliath with a staff, a sling, and 5 smooth stones. He went to the edge of the battle line. David had two choices: go over the line or go back. No matter how difficult the decision, he couldn’t stay there on the edge. So, David stepped forward and literally faced his giant. Their difference in height must have looked something like this. (photo of Andre the Giant)

Goliath laughed that a youth was sent to fight him. He mocked the Israelites and cursed David.

David said to the Philistine: “You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel’s armies—you have defied Him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, cut your head off, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”

When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. Even though David had no sword, he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran. (1 Samuel 17:45-51, HCSB)

When David found himself out on the edge, he chose to move forward in faith. To trust that God would protect him and would defeat the enemies of His people.

David had done the will of God in his own generation. (Acts 13:36b, NLT)

Back to my moment on the edge of that cliff. I was faced with two options and neither one sounded that good to me. If I chose to stay on the mountain I would likely have frozen to death. I had no sleeping bag, no tent, and a small bag of trail mix. I had no tools to make a fire or chop firewood. I doubted my ability to survive the elements.

It took every ounce of courage that I had, but I finally loosened my death grip on the rope, bent my knees slightly, then pushed away from the edge and swung outward and downward. I had shoved away from the cliff so hard that I rappelled almost halfway down the cliff before I next made contact with the rocks. I shouted the entire way down, but it was a shout of joy and triumph.

It only took a couple more drops before I was on the ledge below. My heart was beating out of my chest as adrenaline poured through me. In that moment, I was ready to climb back up just so I could repel again. That was my first and last time to climb a mountain and repel, but I have found myself living out on the edge many times faced with the same options: go over or go back.

Life on the edge is more than learning to do things well. It is more than making the right decisions. We want to learn to do good things. To do the things that Jesus has called us to do. What has Jesus left for your to do for Him? When you have left this earth, will others be able to say that you have done the will of God in your own generation?