“There’s somethin I learned when I was homeless: Our limitation is God’s opportunity.When you get all the way to the end of your rope and there ain’t nothin you can do, that’s when God takes over.” ~ Denver Moore Same Kind of Different As Me (co-written with Ron Hall, with Lynn Vincent)
It’s amazing what we learn in our darkest moments. Those times in life when we find ourselves backed into a corner. Those moments where we have come to the end of our strength, the end of our senses, the end of our resources, the end of our rope per say. Drained of everything “we” have suddenly God has our attention. The light shining in our darkness is His light coming through to teach us what we need to learn, to refill and re-supply us with His strength, senses, and resources. The rope we find Him handing to us is a rope not to bind ourselves up with but one that will draw our ship in to dock in His bay.
Yes indeed if you think about it there appears to be four different kinds of ropes. 1) The rope we swing on to get us from one place to the other like trapezee artists in a circus. In every performance there is the flyer (us) and the catcher (Jesus). It’s important that the two have a good relationship with one another displaying absolute trust while suspended in air. 2) The rope used to bring us in like a boat coming in to the harbor. All it takes is one little rope to bring in and anchor the largest of boats. 3) The rope representing habits, attitudes, and behaviors that often bind us up and tie us down.
Last but not least we come to rope #4 the one Denver Moore was talking about. The rope we hang on to for dear life, afraid to let go. Sadly enough once we grab on to that 4th rope we struggle for all we are worth to hold on to it. After giving it our best shot we finally let go out of desperation only to find we were only inches off the ground and Jesus was there to catch us all along and to take over where we left off.
Like a young child who would of saved themselves a lot of heartache if they would have just listened to their parents in the first place we are that way with God. Unfortunately like the child we have selective hearing. We have our pride. We have our right to freedom to choose and to do as we please. We have, we have, we have….Oh dear there we go again with the “we” “we” “we” thing.
When we change the formula to ‘God and I’ we exchange our #4 rope to a #1 or #2. Ones used to get us around, to maneuver us safely through life. We don’t have to be like the person in the wicker basket that is sitting there just waiting for the rope to break. We can get rid of those insecurities, mistrust, and wrong choices that lead to this.
God has the power to redeem us but we have to be willing to let go and give Him the opporutnity to do so. He not only has the power to redeem us He has the influence to keep us that way. At the end of our rope doesn’t have to be a gun to shoot ourselves with, or pills to swallow to end our lives, or a knife to bleed by. Jesus is there waiting for us to let go and let Him help us through.
I don’t know about you but recently I have seen way too many people come to the end of their ropes only to kill themselves. Times are tough but we can be strong when we rely on God to see us through. We have to trust in the “catcher” the One on the other end to grab hold of us as we come towards Him. Speaking of “catching” did you catch the part about, “as we come ‘towards’ Him.” There’s our key. We need to put it in the door of our heart and use it to allow God to take over what we should have put in His hands in the first place.
Why not admit now there is nothing “I” can do but through Christ all things are possible.
“I’m letting go, Jesus. Catch me God, catch me!”
It’s amazing what we learn in our darkest moments. Those times in life when we find ourselves backed into a corner. Those moments where we have come to the end of our strength, the end of our senses, the end of our resources, the end of our rope per say. Drained of everything “we” have suddenly God has our attention. The light shining in our darkness is His light coming through to teach us what we need to learn, to refill and re-supply us with His strength, senses, and resources. The rope we find Him handing to us is a rope not to bind ourselves up with but one that will draw our ship in to dock in His bay.
Yes indeed if you think about it there appears to be four different kinds of ropes. 1) The rope we swing on to get us from one place to the other like trapezee artists in a circus. In every performance there is the flyer (us) and the catcher (Jesus). It’s important that the two have a good relationship with one another displaying absolute trust while suspended in air. 2) The rope used to bring us in like a boat coming in to the harbor. All it takes is one little rope to bring in and anchor the largest of boats. 3) The rope representing habits, attitudes, and behaviors that often bind us up and tie us down.
Last but not least we come to rope #4 the one Denver Moore was talking about. The rope we hang on to for dear life, afraid to let go. Sadly enough once we grab on to that 4th rope we struggle for all we are worth to hold on to it. After giving it our best shot we finally let go out of desperation only to find we were only inches off the ground and Jesus was there to catch us all along and to take over where we left off.
Like a young child who would of saved themselves a lot of heartache if they would have just listened to their parents in the first place we are that way with God. Unfortunately like the child we have selective hearing. We have our pride. We have our right to freedom to choose and to do as we please. We have, we have, we have….Oh dear there we go again with the “we” “we” “we” thing.
When we change the formula to ‘God and I’ we exchange our #4 rope to a #1 or #2. Ones used to get us around, to maneuver us safely through life. We don’t have to be like the person in the wicker basket that is sitting there just waiting for the rope to break. We can get rid of those insecurities, mistrust, and wrong choices that lead to this.
God has the power to redeem us but we have to be willing to let go and give Him the opporutnity to do so. He not only has the power to redeem us He has the influence to keep us that way. At the end of our rope doesn’t have to be a gun to shoot ourselves with, or pills to swallow to end our lives, or a knife to bleed by. Jesus is there waiting for us to let go and let Him help us through.
I don’t know about you but recently I have seen way too many people come to the end of their ropes only to kill themselves. Times are tough but we can be strong when we rely on God to see us through. We have to trust in the “catcher” the One on the other end to grab hold of us as we come towards Him. Speaking of “catching” did you catch the part about, “as we come ‘towards’ Him.” There’s our key. We need to put it in the door of our heart and use it to allow God to take over what we should have put in His hands in the first place.
Why not admit now there is nothing “I” can do but through Christ all things are possible.
“I’m letting go, Jesus. Catch me God, catch me!”
© 2010 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing
6 comments:
My prayer is that I will let go of the rope and trust God with it all. You know Karen, when we really consider that He knows all things and He knows what's best for us, why do we fight for control? That old flesh gets in the way. I loved your 4 ropes illustration.
Blessings to you,
Debbie
Love, love, love the illustration of the different kinds of ropes. And since God has been using an image of a trapeze to teach me about waiting this year, this post speaks volumes to me. Thank you for sharing.
Yes, change to "God and I"... that's the key there! I pray we all remember that before "me, myself and I". :)
These are some powerful examples of the various uses for rope. You have delved into some deeper thought with this quote, and I so appreciate your heart. Just this morning I felt "at the end of my rope," but your words are a good reminder to "hold on."
Blessings to you today.
Catch me too, God. Amen, Karen.
This is a wonderful telling of an unlikely friendship. The book went back and forth between Ron's perspective and Denver's perspective and both were well written. The bond that was created and fortified by God should be a call to action for all to get up and DO Something!! We can not just sit on the sidelines and sometimes we have to go into those uncomfortable places to grow our faith / spirit.
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