On What’s at the End of Your Rope

2 Corinthians 1:3-11 (Phillips) Thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is our Father and the source of all mercy and comfort. For He gives us comfort in our trials so that we in turn may be able to give the same sort of strong sympathy to others in theirs. Indeed, experience shows that the more we share Christ’s suffering the more we are able to give of His encouragement. This means that if we experience trouble, we can pass on to you comfort and spiritual help; for if we ourselves have been comforted we know how to encourage you to endure patiently the same sort of troubles that we have ourselves endured. We are quite confident that if you have to suffer troubles as we have done, then, like us, you will find the comfort and encouragement of God.

^8-11 We should like you, our brothers, to know something of what we went through in Asia. At that time, we were completely overwhelmed, the burden was more than we could bear, in fact we told ourselves that this was the end. Yet we believe now that we had this experience of coming to the end of our tether that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in God who can raise the dead. It was God who preserved us from imminent death, and it is he who still preserves us. Further, we trust him to keep us safe in the future, and here you can join in and help by praying for us, so that the good that is done to us in answer to many prayers will mean eventually that many will thank God for our preservation.

Observation

Paul certainly was qualified to talk about troubles.  He had many as he traveled among the unsaved to share the Gospel.  In spite of all that he experienced, he saw troubles and trials not as barriers to what God wanted done but rather as opportunities to trust in God and grow in faith – “At that time we were completely overwhelmed, the burden was more than we could bear, in fact we told ourselves that this was the end.  Yet we believe now that we had this experience of coming to the end of our tether that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in God who can raise the dead.”  

Paul tells us that it is in our difficult and trying times that we will find Jesus more present to bring comfort.  He even says trouble is the pathway to equipping us to bring that same comfort and encouragement to others in their desperate times.  “For He gives us comfort in our trials so that we in turn may be able to give the same sort of strong sympathy to others in theirs.”  So, rather than crying out to God for rescue as we feel like we are hanging on to the end of our ropes, Paul tells us to cry out to God to teach us – in that moment, that place, that experience – how to trust even more in Him so we can become His instrument of comfort, encouragement and grace to others who are also finding themselves at the end of their ropes.  

Impact on Me

Paul is asking me to change my perspective about the journey from the beginning to the end of my rope.  Normally, there is panic, hopelessness, fear as I get closer to the end of the rope.  Of course, I have been praying as I was sliding all the way down the rope.  However, as I get nearer to the end, I tend to cry out things like, “God, are you listening?  Have you forgotten my address?  Don’t You see what’s going on here?”  Generally, the closer to the end of the rope, the more the focus is on my predicament, God’s seemingly poor timing and what I can do to keep from falling off.  Am I alone in this?

Paul is asking me to keep my focus on God in my desperate times because He never stops listening or seeing me.  He always knows exactly where I am in the journey along the rope.  If I will look to and for Him as I slide down that rope, I will not only find Him faithful and right on time, but also learn how to comfort and encourage others who find themselves in the same predicament.  While the journey down my rope might have different causes than someone else’s, comfort and encouragement from the Holy Spirit will perfectly fit moment of every trip down the rope.

Prayer

Father God, You always have my best at heart. You are more interested in my character than my comfort, teaching me to walk by faith rather than live by superficial duty and tradition, taking me on the life journeys that will allow me to experience Your presence and peace rather than the easy ways I would choose. Help me to look for You and to You in every difficulty so the trouble does not become bigger than Your working within me through it. Change my perspective so I never lose Your light in my darkest circumstances and will be able to bring Your comfort and care to others who feel they are approaching the end of their ropes. Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

Author: LizG

Wife, mom, grandma & great grandma. View all posts by LizG