The cool sea breeze pushed light clouds across the morning sky at Oceanside, Oregon. On these early summer mornings I loved to catch the low tides to explore tidal pools in the rocks. They were filled with colorful sea life. “Lost Boy Cave”, named for a legendary boy who had been trapped there by the incoming tide was only accessible at lowest tides. All the rocks and cave walls were covered with spectacular sea life at low tide. I would later return for breakfast. I was 13 years old. Life was an adventure. We were on vacation.
One unforgettable morning I met a boy about my age and we strolled along the beach at the foot of one of the many cliffs in the area. We looked up and decided to climb it to the top. From below it looked easy. Jutting rocks made excellent hand and foot holds.
But as we ascended we made a terrible error. Without noticing it we were working our way to the left. Going left the mountain and the cliff rose much higher. We kept climbing higher and higher. A few times we removed small rocks and let them fall. Fear grew as it took such a long time to hear them crash against the rocks below. Finally we reached a difficult place where the rock face seemed to extend out over our heads.
We conquered this ledge and looked up. We were now less than 15 feet from the top. But there was a problem. The entire top ledge of the cliff had an overhang. There was no way we could climb past this natural barrier. We tried to go down. I looked down for the first time and lost all courage. Going down was impossible. We were trapped and hanging on by our fingertips.
The lad with me lost his cool. Frantically he began to climb to my right. Soon he had his head just below the impossible overhanging barrier. At that point there was no solid rock, only loose dirt mixed with smaller stones. There was really nothing firm to grip. Small stones began to cascade down the face of the cliff beside me as he clawed the surface seeking something to sustain his weight. Suddenly I saw him lose it. He was certain to fall to his death, sliding down the face of the cliff grabbing at anything. Right alongside me his hands found something solid and he hung there with a jerk.
I was terrified. I knew that we were going to die. I did not know that in other years the bodies of young boys had been found crushed on the rocks below these treacherous precipices.
I had the privilege of being born in a Christian home. Both parents loved the Lord. I awoke many mornings to the droning sound of my father praying for his family before he left for work. As we learned to say our first words, mother taught us to pray. Before I could read I had memorized Romans 10:9-10 “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” (NLT) We gathered for daily Bible reading and prayer at our house. I started praying the day I started talking.
One morning I was kneeling beside my mother at the big blue couch in the living room. It was my turn to pray. This time I did not just pray for pets and friends. I suddenly was overwhelmed with my personal need to be saved. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I repented of my sin and asked for forgiveness. I’ll never forget that day. I got up with tears of joy and began to sing the little chorus, “Oh, how I love Jesus.” I sang it again and again. I had been conquered by the love of God. I never took note of the date, but my mother later told me that I was only five years old when that happened.
The young fellow hanging with me on the face of this cliff did not know that I was a Christian, but I prayed aloud. I cried out at the top of my voice, “God, if you will save me from this cliff, I promise you my life!”
Why is it that we find it easy to offer God our lives when we have no life left to offer him? There I was. My life was ended for sure. No one was on the beach to save us. We were without any hope of survival.
Then it happened. I lost my senses, too, and began to scramble for the top just as my new friend had. I was now right above him seeking for anything solid to grip. But all was loose soil. Small stones and dirt rained down on him. I was losing it and about to fall and carry both of us to our death. Then somehow I managed to get one hand up over the overhang and grasp a small handful of grass. At that moment all else broke loose and I was left with only a handful of grass to sustain me. I waited an instant for it to break, but it didn’t. Now I was kicking the surface of the cliff and pulling up with that one arm. I had my knee over the ledge and pulled with all my might. I was up!
Kneeling on the dangerously slanted slope I buried both hands in the grass and screamed, “I’m up! I’m up!” From below I heard the voice, “Don’t leave me! Help me!” I did not think it through. I was reacting on nerves. I buried one hand in the grass and took a grip while hanging the other hand over the ledge. I felt his hand and gripped it.
Two boys weight hung on a single handful of fragile beach grass? Not really! That day I believe I had more than grass in that hand. I had the hand of God.
The slope was so steep that we still were in danger of slipping off. We crawled on our knees taking handfuls of grass with each movement. About 30 feet above us was a well worn path leading to the look-out over the “Sea Lion Rocks”. I had walked that path many times. At one time there had been a fence alongside the path. Now only the stakes remained. The nearest fence stake was our target. We crawled to it and embraced it with arms and legs. Two boys’ bodies trembled in silence for maybe 20 minutes without speaking.
It was the day I died. When I started climbing up the face of that cliff my life was my own, or at least that is what I thought. But somewhere between the huge rocks on the beach below and that fence post above I had lost my life. In the years to come I would never be able to escape the screaming prayer that echoes still inside me. I would hear it again and again at moments of decision. I can still hear it today. It is that cry of desperation, “God, if you will save me from this cliff, I promise you my life!” So, if I awake tomorrow still with the breath of life, I know this day is a gift from God. Every day is… for all of us.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (NLT) I encourage you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and receive the free gift of God’s Salvation. The ball is in your court. You can choose to ignore His gift of love and perish or open your heart to receive Him and enjoy life with a capital L here and the promise of eternal life after death.
Ralph Hiatt
ralph.hiatt@agmd.org
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