“Between a Rock and a Hard Place”
My dad grew up in Northeast Texas picking cotton in Honey Grove. There’s nothing there now, but it must have been a colorful place since most of the colloquialisms I know came from him. One of these was the expression “between a rock and a hard place.” It means that you have gotten yourself into a situation that is difficult or impossible to escape. I once had the nerve-wracking experience of being literally caught between a rock and a hard place.
A friend of mine and I were coming down off the top of Enchanted Rock in two different directions; he went around the obstacles and I went through them. I don’t remember exactly how I got there, but I ended up with my back against one rock, my legs stretched out in front of me against another rock, and nothing below me but 30 feet of air into what looked like a pit of no escape. (Maybe there were a few rattlesnakes down there!) The way out was another rock to my right about six feet down—too far for me to jump. I was able to turn over onto my stomach and extend my legs to that rock and “step” down. I remember experiencing great relief when I made it.
Sinful man is stuck between a rock and hard place: sin and humanly devised efforts. Our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), but humanly devised efforts cannot extricate us. Isaiah 64:6 says “all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” Only God can save us. Paul best expressed the way out: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25), and that’s a relief!