“Caught between a rock and a hard place.”  A common figure of speech we usually use to express our feeling about a difficult choice with uncomfortable options or to describe the many uncomfortable dilemmas of life in which a person seems to have no practical options except to simply endure the situation.  I thought I understood what “caught between a rock and a hard place” meant until one night I was watching a television news program about a man who really understood its meaning.
     The man (I don’t recall his name, just that he lived in Colorado) decided to take an unexpected camping trip.  During the trip while in a remote wilderness area in Utah, he decided on the spur of the moment to go climbing in a narrow canyon crevasse.  He was an experienced skillful climber full of the confident energy and strength of youth.  And it would only be a day-trip away from his vehicle... leave in the morning and be back by nightfall.  But he made four very serious mistakes and he was fortunate to live through his adventure in spite of them. And he admitted himself they were stupid mistakes and he knew better than to make them.  Mistake #1 was that he did not tell anyone where he was going, or even that he would be going out-of-town, let alone hiking in another state.  Mistake #2 was that he didn’t make his usual preparations to allow for a longer stay away from his vehicle or for emergencies, even though he would be traveling on foot in rugged terrain in a remote place.
     Anyway, as this man was climbing and hiking along the mountain crevasse, he came to the place where he made his mistake #3 – he didn’t double-check for secure footing.  An 800-pound boulder was partially blocking an extra narrow space between the canyon walls.  Climbing over seemed suitable, so he hitched himself up and over the boulder.  But as he was lowering himself down the other side, the boulder tumbled loose and pinned his hand & forearm against the canyon wall.  For five days he contemplated what he had to do. For five days he tried to free himself from his terrifying predicament, chipping at the boulder with his penknife and rationing his one-day’s supply of food and water until it was gone — but he was still literally caught between a rock and a hard place, and his strength was almost gone.
     On the sixth day, he summoned up all his courage to make the sacrifice he had to make while he still had any strength to do it.  He used the penknife, now damaged and dull from his chipping at the boulder, to slowly cut away at his pinned arm and then managed to break the bone enough to free himself from his trap.  (About that time I had to leave for an appointment.  I didn’t hear how he climbed up out of the canyon and down the mountain or if someone found him along the way.)
     Think about this terrifying situation.  The man was as good as dead.  His arm was damaged beyond repair — it was dying and he was dying with it.  To get back his life, he must be willing to lose that arm and act accordingly ... even if that meant his cutting it off himself or letting someone else help him cut it off.

     That fortunate adventurer understands now better than anyone else what “caught between a rock and a hard place” really means.  We could learn a lot from his experience ... and from his mistakes.  Lord willing, we’ll consider them further in another article.  For now, his experience reminds me of something Jesus said at least two different times.
     “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you,” we read Jesus’ advice in Matthew 18:8 & 9.  “It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”  The parallel passage of this occasion is Mark 9:43-47, but a different occasion with similar advice is found in Matthew 5:27-30.
     Jesus, in a colorful way, is plainly saying that sin does much more than simply hurt people... it traps people in places they really don’t want to stay.  The man we discussed was more than just physically injured by his mistakes ... his sins against sensible climbing.  As long as he tried to keep his arm in his life, he was trapped and dead instead of alive.  He truly gained back his physical life when he believed the truth about his situation and willingly gave up part of himself.  It was his only real option for life.  Likewise sinners are more than just spiritually injured by sins trapping parts of their lives ... their mistakes against God.  They are spiritually dead until they willingly are cut free from their trap.   It is their only real option for spiritual life.  Mark chapter 9 words this thought as their only real option to enter the kingdom of God ... as opposed to fiery eternal suffering.
     Jesus is willing to help us overcome the deadly embrace of sin, but at the same time we must be willing to leave behind our attachment to sin and to let Him cut something out of our lives.  Physically speaking, that climber’s right arm was important and precious to him, but he had to leave it behind if he was going to leave the trap behind.  Spiritually speaking, while we as sinners seek the kingdom and life of God, some activities and interests important to us will continue keeping us in sin’s firm grasp until we realize the truth and have ourselves cut free from that grasp.

     Now suppose that young man went back to where he had been trapped and pulled on that boulder or another so it fell on him.  Wouldn’t he become just as dead as if he had never survived the first time.  As Christians, if we convince ourselves that it is ok to return to our entrapment by sin, Jesus warns us in John 15:1-11 and Paul warns us in Romans 11:17-22 of another cutting off that will happen ... a cutting off that separates us from Him.  “Abide in Me,” Jesus encourages his disciples and us in John 15:4 & 5, “and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;  for without Me you can do nothing.”
     “If anyone does not abide in Me,” He then cautions in verses 6-8, “he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit;  so you will be My disciples.”

     Oh, before I forget – our young climber’s mistake #4 was that he went alone without any friends or companions along who could have helped and comforted him.  As Christians, we don’t have to face our problems alone... we have God to help us and we have each other.
     Jesus is willing to free us from sin’s entrapment.  Are you willing to let Him help you, no matter what you must leave behind in the process?