The End of My Rope

When you are at the end of your rope, when you’ve done all you know to do, when you realize it’s all out of your control, what do you do? When you just want to give up and run away or at least hunker down at home by yourself, what do you do? When you see no way out and yet no way to continue, what do you do?

Maybe you cry, maybe you pray, maybe you call a friend, read a novel, clean house or take a nap. I know I’ve done all of these things and sometimes they work for a little while but they never really solve the problem.  They never get to the heart issues of why I feel the way I do, so what do I do?

·         First, by the grace of God, I see He is graciously allowing me to wear myself out, bringing me to the end of me that I might turn to Him. 

·         And by the grace of God I remember Isaiah 30:15 “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

·         And by the grace of God I begin to repent – repenting of wanting to be god, to control the situation or the people, for thinking more highly of myself than I should, for not believing and trusting God, for striving and not resting, for fearing man and not fearing God, for letting the good desires of my heart become demands, for……the list can go on and on.

But by the grace of God this is when I begin to see how He has lead me through the situation to bringing me to this point in time to build my faith and grow my trust in Him. He wasn’t distant and far off waiting for me to call on Him but was with me in the storm, orchestrating each and every event for His good purpose of glorifying Himself and conforming me to the image of His son.

So when I am at the end of my rope I praise God that He has been and is and will continue to work in me to will and to do of His good pleasure so I can rest in Him in quietness and trust.