Rock reality

Well-trained with clear eyes, the soldiers from the South surveyed the hillside. They would kill an intruder if they located one – and the little puff of dust had aroused their steely view. What had slid down the hill? They searched intently.

They ignored the boulder at their feet, standing close enough to see there was nothing hiding behind it.

This scene from the movie The Two Towers prickles with suspense for we know what the soldiers do not. The boulder is an illusion. We know that the heroes, Frodo and Sam, are huddled beneath an elvish cape, which is only a cape from the inside. But from the outside, where the soldiers stand, it is a solid rock.

We sit nervously, wondering if the soldiers will spot the deception. Will Frodo and Sam trust the cape or their own legs? Might they give up on the cape’s protection and make a run for it?

They stay and the soldiers shrug their shoulders. Probably a small animal tumbled down the hill. The men return to their battalion and we, along with Frodo and Sam, sigh in relief.

How easy it would have been for Frodo and Sam to trust their own eyes rather than trust the cape. How easy to craft a scheme of escape based on what they could see.

We’re under that cape, too. We see what others see and yet we trust what seems to be impossible. We can’t see from the other side, where the enemy stands.

I am reconciled to God through Christ. It all seems ridiculous. I live in a world where my own plans and schemes are thought to be the only solution. I see the inside of the cape just like those around me.

Are you ever tempted to throw aside the cape and make a run for it? Do you ever shudder as enemy boots stand solidly inches from your toes, ready to kill at a slight flutter? Do you trust the Cape?

From our side, the cape looks like ordinary cloth – unable to protect anything. But from the other side, it’s a rock.

It’s a Rock.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Eph 6:13