Monday Moment: Cleft of the Rock

When my glory passes by,

I will put you in a cleft in the rock

and cover you with my hand

until I have passed by.

-Exodus 33:22

If you had asked me, prior to last week, what it took to climb a mountain, I would have shrugged. I guess getting up a mountain is no different than getting through a grocery store, I would have said. You do it one step at a time.

Ha. True, but ha.

Let me tell you what I learned this week: there are so many factors that go into hiking a mountain. First of all, tennis shoes hardly cut it. I know this because the second day on the mountain I chucked my hiking boots in favor of tennis shoes because my feet were killing me. Stupid, stupid, stupid. My inner thighs ache because of the splits I did when one foot (usually my left), would suddenly and violently slip away from the rest of my body. As the rocks and sand I disturbed would slide, slide, slide away, my heart would pound as I pulled my wayward left foot back to me, like closing a pair of scissors. Yikes.

Secondly, water. Even if you don't drink enough of it in your daily life, you will on a mountain. And it's amazing. You drink four bottles of it, one after the other, and never have to use the restroom. Which, as it turns out, is a good thing.

And, of course, there's the sheer elevation of the whole endeavor. Two steps and your head is swimming. Ten steps and you're panting and gasping. Twenty steps and you want to throw up. I mean, no kidding, we had a hard time getting sparks to spark up there, there's so little oxygen.

Yep, mountains aren't like grocery stores. On a mountain, even the most elementary of tasks become a monumental challenge. You find yourself praying for level terrain. For a cleft in the rock.

My point today, although I'm really too exhausted to have one, is this: there are days ... times ... in our life when we're doing well just to put one foot in front of the other. Right? There are moments we're battling to breathe. Fighting for footing. Struggling to stay where we are. Even as Christians, we can spend days... months... years, even... simply clinging to the Rock... not advancing, not retreating, but just hanging on.

And if... like me on that mountain outside Saltillo... you're just hanging on today, that's okay. Our God is faithful and mindful of your place. Of your location. And as He passes by - just as He did for Moses - He can put you in a cleft in your rock and cover you there with His hand.

So hold tight to the Rock. But at the same time, let the same God who covered Moses provide a shelter for you in your time of need, too. He will be faithful to cover and hide you as everything passes over. And when it has... when it's all blown by... He can set your feet upon the rock once more.

You can learn a lot on a mountain. But you can learn even more in a cleft.

Praise God.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,

A wonderful Savior to me;

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,

Where rivers of pleasure I see.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

That shadows a dry, thirsty land;

He hideth my life with the depths of His love,

And covers me there with His hand,

And covers me there with His hand.

-Fanny Crosby, 1890

Monday Moment is a little devotional to help kick-start your week. Hope to see you again next Monday!