Getting to the end of your rope…
Jan 12th, 2012 by ljkim
Everyone has a breaking point… the point where we fail and don’t know what to do, and are overwhelmed. We think it’s God’s job to keep us from getting there; but it’s really just the opposite! God WANTS you to get to the end of your rope. To throw your hands in the air and say “I give up! I can’t do this!” Because THAT is when God can step in and work… On Sundays we’re talking about ‘how we change and grow‘, and we mentioned that all the problems in this come from two things: 1) trying to do stuff that only God can do, and 2) not doing the part that we are responsible for doing… So things like taking a Sabbath, making time to pray, being involved in Church, making opportunities for meaningful friendships, making opportunities for meaningful discussions, staying sober (for people who aren’t addicts)…these are (examples of) things that WE are responsible for doing. Growing, changing, helping us understand, making us loving, joyful, giving us peace, patience, these are examples of things that God does.
So it’s the farmers job to till the soil and plant the seed and take care of the garden, but it’s God’s job to make things grow. A farmer who neglected to till, and plant seed but instead stood around trying to get seedling buds to open would have a crummy harvest… No matter how hard he tries, he won’t reap a good reward. And the sooner he throws his hands in the air and says, “I give up” the better!
The same is true with us! A lot of what we do is trying to do God’s part in our lives (managing outcomes)… and we neglect to do the basic things that are solely our responsibility. So we try to make ourselves happy and patient and kind and successful, and content and to earn human glory and so forth; these are all God’s jobs.
So if you’re hitting a road block, getting to the end of your rope… Maybe it’s a good thing? God is trying to tell you something. Go figure out what your part is… What did God tell you is your part, and go do that, while trusting God to do His part.
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