At the End of the Rope

Life is funny. The very moment you think you are at the end of your rope, God steps in and reveals Himself. Why does He wait so long? Like Abraham and Sarah. He could have given them the promised child when they were young. Why did He wait until they were 100 and 90 years old? Why did they have to wait until having a child became a laughing matter?

 

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

I was thinking the other day about the times in our lives when we’ve been at the end of our rope. Actually, the end of the rope is a good place to be. It is the place where God can meet you, can break through your pride, can move in your heart, and can bring a miracle to your doorstep.

We’ve been at the end of the rope place many times in our faith walk with God. I remember when we lived in Three Hills, Alberta, working as independent missionaries with Ken and       Louise Lobdell to the First Nations people in reserves both north and south of Three Hills. The summer of 1978, Brian was just turning 7, Sherry was five and Vicki was a year and a half. We lived in a rented farm house west of Three Hills, Alberta. Our support had been dwindling over the two years we’d been in this ministry, and now we had to make a choice.

 

We had to either raise more support, find another ministry that paid better, or God was going to have to provide us with a large amount of money. Of course that was the easy way out of our dilemma, but, as you know, God’s path usually takes the rough, climbing road instead of the smooth one.

There was a retired pastor in the area who kept encouraging us to go to Lillooet, B.C. to become their pastor as he’d heard they needed one. We didn’t want to go to Lillooet because we’d known a girl from there and she painted a pretty bleak picture of the town and of the morals of the people in that area. Still this man badgered us with his message.

Finally Dan said, “I’d go over there and visit and speak in the church if I had a way. The only problem is that I don’t.” He probably had all of five dollars in his wallet. Those were the days when we searched under the couch cushions to find enough money to buy milk.

“Oh, no problem,” this man said cheerfully, “I’m traveling to British Columbia in a couple of weeks and I’ll be willing to drop you off there.”

Still Dan hesitated. He told the man he’d pray about it, but we had both decided that we did not want to go to Lillooet. The next day, Dan went to a painting job he had with another fellow, and I drove Brian the five miles to school (second grade) at Prairie Bible Institute. When I pulled up to the school building, what I thought was smoke began billowing from the motor!

I went running into the school building, screaming that my car was on fire! I can’t imagine what Vicki thought as she sat in the car by herself while Mom left her alone! Poor kid. She’s probably traumatized to this day. Someone came to help me, and we soon figured out that it was steam not smoke and that the radiator on our old car had blown up. So they called the Institute’s garage and it was towed away. I don’t remember how I got home except that maybe I called Louise Lobdell (who was always bailing me out of trouble!) and she took Vicki and me home.

So I had big news when Dan returned home that evening. But he had news, too. He’d fallen off the ladder while painting, and even though he wasn’t damaged severely, he knew he was finished painting (which relieved him in way as he hates painting due to his color blindness). Anyway, after we’d both shared our adventures of the day, we looked at each other with big eyes and drew deep breaths.

Dan capped it all by saying, “I guess I better find out about that job in Lillooet.”

Turned out that someone paid for our car repairs and Dan went to British Columbia with our friend. He found a small group of people (4 families) who were running a large Sunday School ministry by themselves. These people were in big need of some pastoral care and teaching.

After Dan preached that Sunday, the people agreed (nothing so formal as a vote!) that they wanted us. He went with Richard and Lorraine Enns to find a house to rent. They paid for his ticket back home and hey, presto! we found ourselves with a job, a house, and a place to minister!

But it wasn’t so easy as it sounds. The church (a Canadian Sunday School Mission church) was able to only pay us $600. a month, and over half of that went to rent. We had three small children to feed and many other bills to pay. “How are we going to manage that?” I asked, for once the practical one.

Dan kind of shrugged and said, “Well, if God calls us there, we’d better go. He can provide for our needs.”

Wow. That was a step of faith! We’d gone from being at the end of the rope to the edge of the cliff with no bridge in sight and we had to step off it and trust that God was going to take care of us and our family. Is anything too hard for the Lord?

I am so glad that we took the leap. The ministry in Lillooet proved to be rich, wonderful and exciting as we watched God provide for us day by day. We didn’t get rich off the ministry, but we invested our lives for six years into the people God brought to us. He worked in our midst so that they began a regular church service and started a girl’s club and a youth ministry. We saw people accept the Lord and get baptized; we grew in numbers; we began a Christian school in the church basement; and we saw God use us to form the basis for a strong church that continues to preach God’s Word to this day.

In this day and age when possessions are everything, when the bottom line is money, when people are focused on themselves and pleasure, God’s Word rings true down through the centuries. His Kingdom is made of people who walk by faith. From Matthew 5, we learn that the people God blesses richly are those who mourn, those who are poor in spirit (humble), those who are merciful, those who seek God’s righteousness above anything else, those who are down-trodden, persecuted and despised by our society. This doesn’t sound like Forbes Most Wealthy List to me!

These are the things I’ve learned at the end of the rope:

1. God doesn’t answer or come to our rescue the way we’d like Him to. He is sovereign and He delights to surprise us when we step out in faith. The challenge is to let go and let God.

2. Being poor by this world’s standards is not a bad thing. In fact, Jesus said to the rich young man who wanted to follow Him, “Sell all you have and come and follow Me.” What would you give up to follow Christ? Everything? You should. Yes, you may have to search under the couch cushions for enough money to buy food, but God will give you joy, peace and satisfaction that money or possession cannot give.

3. God strips away our resources so we are humbled, contrite, and open to Him. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (Jam. 4:6). Do you want to receive His grace? Become as a little child. Focus on Him and be obedient to step out in faith where He might lead this year of 2014.

The end of the rope is truly a good place to be!