There’s a cliche that goes something like this: when you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on. Apparently, according to various internet sources, this quote has been attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. I’m a little skeptical about any of those actually having said that.

There is some truth to that. If it were me, I’d probably phrase it like this: when you come to the end of you, you come to the beginning of God and His mercies.

When you come to the point when you realize that you bring nothing to the table, that you really are poor in spirit (as the first Beatitude states), and that you don’t have it in you, then you can declare your declaration of dependence on God and find out how strong He really is.

There’s another cliche that may be overused but only because it’s true: you never know how much you have in God until He’s all that you have. Or something like that.

I think sometimes, God deliberately brings us to places where we are grossly inadequate to show how sufficient He really is. The whole notion of God never giving us more than we can handle? I don’t buy it. I think if God never gave us more than we could manage, we’d always maintain the illusion of self-sufficiency. And by the way, the verse doesn’t say God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. It says He never allows us to be tempted beyond what we’re able to bear. There’s a difference.

But once you’re at the end of your proverbial rope, you do find that it’s a good place to be because it’s there that you really and truly see God. It’s when you can find out how strong He is to save those who cry out in desperation to Him day and night. Especially if you’re one of those ones crying out.

I personally would rather be able to read someone else’s sob story and be able to say, “Lesson learned.” But if I’m honest, I know that some lessons are best learned in the dark and hard places and some of the sweetest experiences with God only come out of trials and tribulations.