From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

~Psalm 61:3 NASB

Not a Rose Garden

When we come to faith in Christ, we experience love. joy, and peace–life on the higher rock.

But we often fail to mention that these byproducts of the Christian faith are frequently couched between hardship, suffering, and struggle. God seems to be more concerned with our character than our comfort. Struggle is the name of the game in the typical Christian experience.

The Higher Rock

David finds himself fainthearted and overwhelmed by the isolation and trials of his spiritual voyage.  Like the psalmist, our spiritual odyssey is like climbing a mountain with a rocky and uncertain terrain. With the length of the trek and the unsure footing, we become fatigued. We reach up for one more rock above us, but our hands slip off the rock, and we realize our strength is insufficient to pull us up.  As we extend our hand one final time, we call out, “Help, Lord.” Then, an arm descends from behind the rock and latches onto our forearm and hand. God pulls us to the cleft of the rock. And one more time, we realize God’s grace prevails when our strength fails.

The Ongoing Journey

We sigh and, for a time, bask in Christ’s presence. But about the time our wounds are healed from the journey and we feel secure in our rocky refuge, we turn and look up the mountain. We must either continue up the mountain or descend back to the lowlands. There is no such thing as status quo in the Kingdom of God. We are moving toward or away from Him. So, we continue to ascend the mountain, experiencing one impregnable rock after another, never able to scale any cliff in our own strength, but only with God’s help.

As we go from one rocky crest to another, we discover a clearer view of God’s glory, which motivates us onward. We still get weary occasionally and ask God how many rocks we must climb. We realize getting to the top will take as many tries as necessary. Yet, at the mountaintop, we fully experience the actual Rock, who is higher than us.

Take the necessary steps to get to the higher Rock. 

Father, take me to the mountaintop where I can fully experience my relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2025: The Higher Rock: Ken Barnes: All Rights Reserved