Climb On

By Sloan Milliken

Sometimes, having a hard time sleeping sneaks up on you for the strangest of reasons. Getting into a new hobby recently did that for me.

In the last year or so, I’ve started to rock climb. Almost anytime you become interested in an athletic pursuit, you quickly learn not just about the sport itself, but also about the preeminent individuals within it. Over the last few months, I have devoured many an article and video chronicling climbing adventures, the majority of them featuring a young man named Alex Honnold.

Alex is famous for something called free soloing. Simply put, free soloing is climbing without ropes or any other protective gear. It is different from bouldering, where one climbs a short route with pads underneath to absorb a potential fall. In free soloing, the climber puts on his climbing shoes, straps on a chalk bag, and climbs—fully aware that the consequence of a fall is death.

While Honnold is far from the only climber to regularly free solo, he became the world’s biggest climbing celebrity for soloing unthinkable things in unbelievably fast times. He has done his most well-known exploits in Yosemite, where he has free soloed the three biggest walls in the valley, with each climb topping over 2,000 vertical feet and each one taking him only around a couple hours to finish. To put that in perspective, using ropes and all sorts of gear, it usually takes very good, experienced climbers several days to climb just one of those sheer granite walls.

Well after I became enthralled with what Honnold has been doing, I began to ask myself why. When I first asked the question, I was actually a little perturbed with myself for staying up late into another night to watch climbing videos. Quickly, though, I became intrigued by what I might discover if I didn’t let the thought go.

It eventually dawned on me that Alex Honnold’s climbing captivates me because he lives his life willing to risk death to do amazing things. Challenged, but glad the problem was solved, I thought sleep awaited me. I was wrong. I still found myself awake at night, lying in bed, unable to escape the fact that I was made to live the same way.

I was haunted by Honnold’s free soloing because, while he was risking death to reach a summit, I knew within myself that I usually am unwilling to risk a little awkwardness when I feel moved to show someone the love of Jesus.

That bothered me. I knew that the cost of reaching the unreached in my city and around the world was death-to-self, and possibly literal death, and I lay awake at night searching my heart, confronted by my complacency.
If you have been in a similar place, wanting to live more fully for the Lord but not knowing how, I want to encourage you with what the Lord has been encouraging me with. Rather than beat yourself up, get discouraged, or search your heart forever to figure out what is holding you back, simply be honest and pursue a deeper revelation of God’s goodness and love.

One day we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. When I see him in the full weightiness of his love and glory, I want to rejoice because I took him at his word, because I believed he was good and my life demonstrated that to the world. Yes, today I feel some grief for opportunities missed, but I would rather grieve now instead of seeing Love incarnate face-to-face and realize for the first time that I had nothing to be scared of all along.
Instead, I want to put on some climbing shoes, strap on a chalk bag, and go for it. Don’t worry, I’m not looking to free solo a literal mountain. I’m wanting, however, to believe God and live with such faith-filled gusto that it could be said that I am free soloing life.

While some people may think that’s crazy, I am okay with it. God really is that good. All the time.

Many Blessings,
Sloan Milliken