The Ladder of Faith

Susanna Shek—Elgin, UK

The road of faith that leads to the Savior can be represented as a ladder. The whole length of the ladder stretches from the ground and reaches to the farthest heavens. Because of its length, you are not able to see the very top end—for it is up among the clouds and your view is blocked by these clouds. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). You just have to believe that at the end of this ladder, the Lord Jesus is waiting patiently for you.

At the start of the climb, you are given an empty sack, labeled “the sack of burdens.” This sack is to contain all the burdens and challenges you will face as you progress on this ladder of faith.

As you climb the ladder, there are times you feel that the going is easy. It does not seem like you need to exert much effort at all. Yet at other times, you may feel it is almost impossible to even continue the climb. You take one step ahead but no sooner than you do, you slip back down, and end up at a lower rung than before. You may start to think of giving up, for you know that the higher up the ladder you go, the harder the fall will be, if you fall.

As you continue on this journey of faith, you may take some time out to reflect upon your journey so far. Looking around, you see that of those who started out on this ladder of faith with you, only a few of them are left still climbing. Desperately, you look around for the ones who are missing.

You then realize that they have slipped or fallen off the ladder. Some are wandering aimlessly at the bottom of the ladder and some are badly bruised from their falls. Your heart reaches out to them because you can see their lack of motivation and courage to return to this journey of faith. Some of them even seem to have completely forgotten about this ladder or have hardened their hearts to turn away.

Whatever it is, you must continue the climb, as no one can do it on your behalf. You may be blessed with people who are there for you, to offer support and encouragement during times when you feel too tired to go on. Nevertheless, you have to reach the top of the ladder yourself. You need to find the motivation from inside of yourself, for those around you may not always be there.

Going up further, you may find that each step gets harder and harder and your sack of burdens gets increasingly heavier. What do you do? The decision is yours. God does not force anything upon you. You could choose to let yourself slip down the ladder because you are too scared to try any more. Or, you could reach out to Jesus.

Do you cry out to Jesus when you feel you cannot carry on? Do you cry out when you have lost all hope? Do you ask Him to carry your burdens as you feel your heart is going to break? Do you pour your heart out before Jesus?

As you pray to the Savior for help, His reply is always clear. He is always beside you. At the very beginning, he was at the bottom of the ladder with you. He has been with you ever since. He was the voice in your heart urging you to carry on, that all your effort and tears will be worth it. All that is needed of you is to reach out and open your heart to Him.

Once you open your heart to Him, the journey on this ladder of faith does not seem as daunting as before. The higher you climb, the stronger the hope in you grows. You will hear a voice saying, “You are almost there, my child. Just keep going.”