are you at the end of your rope?

Have you ever felt as if you were hanging on by a thread? At the end of your rope? Have you felt as if today were just too much to face, not to mention tomorrow, the week after that, and the week after that?

Sometimes life and it's burdens can weigh us down - emotionally, physically, mentally... spiritually. So much so that it feels as if they are pulling us to the ground, making it seem impossible to hold on, like our hands are losing grip.

"They were at their wits' end." - Psalm 107:27

I was at my family's ranch this summer (hence the flip flops). I woke up early in the morning, grabbed a hot cup of coffee, and settled out on the porch to have my quiet time.

I was a little disappointed that for the few hours I got to spend there on a short visit from LA, it was cloudy and rainy. But I was determined to enjoy my time there nonetheless, to make the most of this escape from busy city life to the peaceful contrast of nature.

So I ventured out under dark storm clouds to the rope swing. And, of course, it was there I found inspiration.

For as I was swinging on this huge rope swing, for a moment - just a moment - I didn't have a care in the world. And I got to thinking - or wishing rather - for the days of childhood.

Oh, how I long for those days. The days of running around barefoot. The days of playing outside until dark. 

As adults, the word "dark" comes with different meaning as we experience more darkness in our lives with each passing year - deaths of loved ones, deaths of relationships, financial struggles, you name it.

But then I got to thinking... Here I was, in the darkness of these storm clouds, and yet I had found such a brightness, a lightness of my soul, and immense joy in the simplest of activities.

What if we were able to do that when "storm clouds" appeared in our lives? What if we were able to find immense joy in the simplest of things - simply knowing who we are in Christ?

We are children of God. And He is our loving Father. While that doesn't mean we won't experience clouds and darkness, it does mean that He is there for us always. Even when we feel we have come to the end of ourselves. Especially when we feel we have come to the end of ourselves.

"Cause my whole world is caving in, but I feel you more than I did then. I have now come to the end of me, but somehow still I have all I need." - Josh Wilson, Fall Apart

“I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” – Ezekiel 34:12 

The Lord is faithful. He will never abandon us. He will never let go.

"Oh no, You never let go, through the calm and through the storm." - Matt Redman, You Never Let Go

"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress." - Psalm 107:28 

"I am holding onto you. In the middle of the storm, I am holding on." - Crowder, I Am

He's holding on, my friend. Won't you?