Free Solo: Trusting God’s Timing on Life’s Steepest Walls

Discovering meaningful Free Solo faith lessons begins with understanding the awe-inspiring terrain where this journey took place. Have you ever visited Yosemite? Many people who don’t live in the Western United States often stop by Yosemite National Park when visiting San Francisco. From there, it’s a popular travel route to continue on toward Las Vegas. Living in Los Angeles, I travel from south to north, and I have visited Yosemite National Park about three times so far.

As anyone who has been to Yosemite knows, entering through the ticket booth at the park entrance isn’t the destination itself; you have to drive for over an hour from there before the magnificent grandeur of Yosemite truly begins to unfold. Yosemite is truly one of the most beautiful parks. People often say that while some have never been there, no one visits only once. Among its numerous waterfalls and mountains, you will likely remember the famous granite monolith, El Capitan. While typical mountains are blanketed with lush trees, El Capitan is a colossal monolith of bare granite. Seen from a distance, it rises like an enormous gray stone pillar, exuding an immense sense of scale; up close, you are utterly overwhelmed by how small humans are before nature.

Through the documentary Free Solo, let’s take some time to explore what life lessons we can learn from Alex Honnold and how we can walk in daily fellowship with God.

The documentary Free Solo captures Alex Honnold’s historic challenge of climbing Yosemite’s 3,000-foot (900-meter) granite cliff of El Capitan with bare hands, completely devoid of ropes or safety gear. The world often calls him a freak of nature who erased fear through genetic anomalies or reckless bravado, but beneath the surface lay thousands of meticulous notes, repetitive routines, and relentless self-reflection. When we look up famous figures around us or in the media, they seem extraordinary at first glance, yet learning their life stories reveals that many endured brutally harsh or deeply painful pasts—persevering through trials to eventually stand at the summit.

The image of Alex in Free Solo, holding against gravity at the edge of a cliff solely with his fingertips and toes, closely mirrors the journey of a believer standing before the massive walls of the world, breathing and walking with God each day.

A Routine Written in a Notebook: Building Spiritual Muscle Through Daily Fellowship

Alex did not simply rush onto the rock face. He climbed the wall hundreds of times using safety ropes, meticulously recording and memorizing the exact placement of microscopic footholds and tiny edges that could barely support half a fingertip. He never climbed blindly; he prepared through exhaustive calculation and relentless rehearsal.

Our spiritual life is likewise never completed through a single grand resolution. Does anything in life materialize instantly in one magical moment? Having worked in video editing for over 17 years, I certainly wasn’t proficient from the start. It took daily practice, enrollment in film school, and walking the steady path of an editor to bring me to where I am today. Even so, I have never once considered myself at the summit. There is still so much to learn—especially through this Screen Devotions blog, where I watch films, analyze them, and continuously study how to view them through a biblical, Christian worldview. In everything you do, especially spiritually, a regular discipline is essential: meditating on the Word each morning, writing down small prayer requests, and seeking God’s will in the minor decisions of everyday life. As these holy daily routines accumulate, you build resilient spiritual muscle capable of staying anchored during moments of crisis.

Silencing the Anxiety and Noise of the World: The Gaze of a Solitary Climber

Sometimes an amusing thought crosses my mind. You might have seen that famous viral video where a camera operator sprints alongside competitive runners while holding heavy gear, looking even more impressive than the athletes themselves. Isn’t that astounding? Matching the speed of elite sprinters while carrying a camera in hand. Similarly, watching Free Solo, I felt immense admiration for the camera crew filming alongside Alex. Although they used ropes, co-director Jimmy Chin—a legendary National Geographic photographer and mountaineer who has led numerous polar and alpine expeditions—hung directly on the lines to direct the shoot. It was possible because the director himself was a seasoned, elite climber.

Beside Alex, as he prepared for the climb, stood this camera crew—who were also his close friends. While the crew cared for him deeply, their well-meaning anxiety and camera lenses inevitably amplified the extreme psychological pressure and fear that “a single fall means instant death.”

Does this not closely reflect our own lives in this world? Society constantly points countless cameras and microphones toward us, saying, “That path is too dangerous,” or “You don’t have the skills; you’ll fail,” drawing arbitrary limits and injecting anxiety based on worldly statistics and conventional wisdom. Yet those who walk with God do not let their eyes wander toward the world’s clamor. We must completely mute the volume of human opinions and fear of failure, fixing our ears solely on the voice of the Lord who directs each step. How do we achieve this? It begins with what was shared earlier: meditating on scripture each morning, recording personal prayers, and training ourselves to seek God’s direction in every small choice.

The Courage to Step Down: Spiritual Discernment in Pausing and Waiting

On the day of his first free solo attempt, Alex made the difficult decision to turn around mid-climb and descend the wall. Despite all his meticulous preparations and calculations, he recognized that his physical condition and inner intuition were not in complete alignment. Even with numerous cameras and eyes watching, he refused to press forward out of pride or impatience.

Only those who deeply examine and understand themselves know when to stop. The same applies to faith. Forcing our way forward driven by personal ambition or worldly expectations is not faith; it is pride. True repentance begins by recognizing and confessing our brokenness before God. When we realize that we are nothing on our own and can do nothing apart from God’s grace, we truly understand who we are. Only then, when God removes peace from our hearts and signals us to pause, can we humbly stop and wait without being swayed by the opinions of others. This is true spiritual discernment and genuine courage. Reckless, undisciplined bravado is never true courage.

Stepping Forward Boldly When You Know Who You Are

After patient waiting and thorough preparation, at dawn on June 3, 2017, Alex stood once more beneath El Capitan. Watching him climb kept me on the absolute edge of my seat as I immersed myself in his journey. The ascent had truly terrifying moments: the frictionless granite slab of the Freeblast section where a slip meant catastrophe, and the precarious Karate Kick maneuver over 2,000 feet above the valley floor. Yet through total focus and immersion, he reached the summit in 3 hours and 56 minutes.

Fear is not mastered by struggling to eliminate it; it is controlled when you know who you are and where your feet are anchored. Those who ground their spiritual identity through daily fellowship with God do not shrink back before the world’s towering cliffs. Walking forward in faith when God says go, and stopping when He says stop—that is the true journey of faith, cutting away the false ropes of the world to hold fast to the Lord alone.

Throughout his preparation, Alex fell repeatedly on rope rehearsals and endured compression fractures along with severe sprains, which allowed him to accurately understand his vulnerabilities and prepare for them before ultimately conquering El Capitan. There is no faith without failure. When we acknowledge our weakness through seasons of testing and rely entirely on God, we can advance with boldness before life’s steepest walls.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10

What represents El Capitan in your life right now? What spiritual preparations are you making with God to climb it today?

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Explore More Screen Devotions:

• 🎬 Movies: Explore Other Faith-Based Film Reflections
• 🎨 Animation: Spiritual Insights in Animated Films

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.