“God delights in using ordinary Christians who come to the end of themselves and choose to trust in His extraordinary provision. He stands ready to allocate His power to all who are radically dependent on Him and radically devoted to making much of Him.” by David Platt in Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
I had come to the end of my rope. The last bunny had been pulled out of my magician’s hat to try and deal with life as it was. Crying out to God one day I sobbed out the words, “I have no more tricks left. I’ve tried everything I could.” Perhaps I had but that was the problem. “I” had tried everything. “I” did all I could. “I” had no more tricks to pull out of my magic hat. “I” was at the end of my rope.
There I stood with a dumb look on my face and eyes so full of tears they couldn’t focus on anything but the “I.” Although I thought I had trusted in God all along it appeared what I trusted in Him for was to make my magic work. Enough playing around at last it was time to trust in Him and His extraordinary provision to work. No more of Karen’s plan B, C, D, E, and so on.
What a fool I was and I had the rope burns on my hands to prove it. I was hanging on so tight to the rope I forgot to let go and trust God. The picture I had painted in my life came out looking like the time I tried water skiing for the first and only time. As I managed to get up on the skis for a short distance when I fell I refused to let go of the rope. As the boat dragged me across the lake everyone on board shouted, “Karen, let go!” Smart and tough me, I held on for all I was worth. Finally drained of strength to hang on I let go. Oh, what a novel idea!
Wow, how crazy can we get? Sorry I just dragged you into the equation. Think about, we all do this with God as I did with water skiing. The time is now to let go of the rope and trust that God is there to catch us when we start to fall. It’s time to go radical. Not the radical path the world seems to go but radical for Jesus. Radically dependent on Him, radically devoted.
I hate to think of the many times He has been there close by and I never even noticed. Unfortunately being too preoccupied with our own agenda will do that. Such as my agenda of trying to look into my magician’s hat wondering what trick I could pull out next to deal with my marriage, my financial problems, health issues and more. I didn’t need another bunny, another fuzzy set of ears to grab on to I needed the cross and the one once attached to it, Jesus Christ. I was so worried about doing my part that I missed the first part I needed to do and that was to be drastically dependent and devoted to Christ.
Coming to the end of ourselves can be a good thing. Especially when we allow it to be the beginning of something better as we rely on God’s tremendous power instead of our own tricks to see us through life’s journey. The cross is our trading post where we get to exchange our tricks for trust in Him, our doubts for His wisdom, and our weaknesses for His strength. Praise the Lord!
Today, this day in June we have Jennifer as our host on her blog, Scraps & Snippets. Run over there and join the gang in reading or writing today’s thoughts on yesterday’s quote.
I had come to the end of my rope. The last bunny had been pulled out of my magician’s hat to try and deal with life as it was. Crying out to God one day I sobbed out the words, “I have no more tricks left. I’ve tried everything I could.” Perhaps I had but that was the problem. “I” had tried everything. “I” did all I could. “I” had no more tricks to pull out of my magic hat. “I” was at the end of my rope.
There I stood with a dumb look on my face and eyes so full of tears they couldn’t focus on anything but the “I.” Although I thought I had trusted in God all along it appeared what I trusted in Him for was to make my magic work. Enough playing around at last it was time to trust in Him and His extraordinary provision to work. No more of Karen’s plan B, C, D, E, and so on.
What a fool I was and I had the rope burns on my hands to prove it. I was hanging on so tight to the rope I forgot to let go and trust God. The picture I had painted in my life came out looking like the time I tried water skiing for the first and only time. As I managed to get up on the skis for a short distance when I fell I refused to let go of the rope. As the boat dragged me across the lake everyone on board shouted, “Karen, let go!” Smart and tough me, I held on for all I was worth. Finally drained of strength to hang on I let go. Oh, what a novel idea!
Wow, how crazy can we get? Sorry I just dragged you into the equation. Think about, we all do this with God as I did with water skiing. The time is now to let go of the rope and trust that God is there to catch us when we start to fall. It’s time to go radical. Not the radical path the world seems to go but radical for Jesus. Radically dependent on Him, radically devoted.
I hate to think of the many times He has been there close by and I never even noticed. Unfortunately being too preoccupied with our own agenda will do that. Such as my agenda of trying to look into my magician’s hat wondering what trick I could pull out next to deal with my marriage, my financial problems, health issues and more. I didn’t need another bunny, another fuzzy set of ears to grab on to I needed the cross and the one once attached to it, Jesus Christ. I was so worried about doing my part that I missed the first part I needed to do and that was to be drastically dependent and devoted to Christ.
Coming to the end of ourselves can be a good thing. Especially when we allow it to be the beginning of something better as we rely on God’s tremendous power instead of our own tricks to see us through life’s journey. The cross is our trading post where we get to exchange our tricks for trust in Him, our doubts for His wisdom, and our weaknesses for His strength. Praise the Lord!
Today, this day in June we have Jennifer as our host on her blog, Scraps & Snippets. Run over there and join the gang in reading or writing today’s thoughts on yesterday’s quote.
6 comments:
So true that coming to the end of our rope can be a good thing! It's amazing what God can do with us when we get to that point.
Thanks so much for sharing today!
I was hanging on so tight to the rope I forgot to let go and trust God.
Oh, my firend, how many times I have been right there with you. Learning to trust is one of my life-long struggles. This was a great visual post for this slow-learner. Thank you!
Karen, I can identify with your example of water skiing! However, once I learned it was so much easier the next time.
This trusting can be difficult. But how trustworthy our God really is.
When I come to the end of myself, I find it amazing how God comes through just in time.
Blessings,
Debbie
Right on Karen. Why, oh why, do we insist on doing things our way? I am thankful for a patient and trustworthy God.
End of us... is the beginning of God's greatness being worked out through us. That's darn exciting!
Be blessed this week!
How often we come up with a plan and ask God to make it work for us. Of course we know best; of course we know how to get from point A to point B. But, as you say, when we hold tightly to our plan, our rope, we often end up with half the lake up our nostrils. Only God can get us from point A to point B without drowning. Love your example!
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