I am afraid of heights. Even walking on the transparent floor of a sky tower, my legs get weak. Now that I'm in the middle of my centenarian years, I'm experiencing a fear of heights in my life. Just looking at the steep drop from the top of a cliff makes my legs go weak. However, if you have a strong rope, you will be able to climb down the cliff, despite your fear and panic. In some cases, you might even take a 50-50 chance of survival and fall into the water below the cliff.

But the rocks we encounter in life are a much different story. Instead of the fear of looking down, it's the fear of looking up and looking down that intimidates us. There won't be any ropes to cling to, so you'll have to set up your own safety ropes along the way. That rope will be your lifeline in case you fall. So you'll want to secure it carefully and securely.

I don't think most people, myself included, like cliffs or rocks. However, it seems to be something we have to face in our life stories and in our faith, given that even Jesus was dragged to a cliff and threatened (Luke 4:29).

After 2021, when I decided to take a leap of faith, I realized that whereas in the past, when I had encountered a rock wall, I had bypassed it or given up, I was now determined to face it and climb it. I attribute the cliffs I've fallen off in the past 55 years of my life to my training in hardship and adversity, sometimes to the point of feeling helpless and unable to do anything about it.

Looking back, I realize that in life and in my faith, I have to have power or energy to go down or to hold on. I believe the source of this power is from the Lord. Through the power of His love, I am now actively using that power to climb the rock. I resolve to climb the rocks of challenge that will strengthen my relationship with God.