The End of the Rope--by Linden Malki

When you come to the end of your rope, what do you find?
For one thing, a lot of advice.
The classic answer, attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt, is to "tie a knot and hang on."

The problem with it is that you're still at the end of your rope, just a little more securely.  There are times that just hanging in there is the appropriate thing to do, but how do we know for sure?

Much of  the advice boils down to things like: know yourself, recognize your feelings, try to figure out how you got there, persevere, encourage yourself, think positively, do something!  Better than wallowing in self-pity or trying to find someone to blame, but still limited to your own strength. I also found some offbeat ideas: if you're going through hell, don't stop, keep moving!

A next step can be to begin to look outside of yourself. One interesting suggestion was to get a "new rope".
Thinking about that, there are at least two ways to look at that. Maybe the rope is the problem--
but is blaming the circumstances ("the rope") itself appropriate or an excuse? What is the other end of the rope attached to? These are things you need to know.

Moving outward, reaching out to someone can be a real positive step. But not just anybody; make sure they are trustworthy and up to the challenge. And Who is the most trustworthy person available? The Message puts it like this: "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God and His rule." (Matthew 5:3) Sometimes we have to come to the end of our own rope, and there we find God with His new and better rope, ready to splice us into Him.
]
Whether to persevere, make changes, or drop off and start over, what we should find at the end of our rope is God, waiting for us to stop depending on ourselves and ask for strength, wisdom, willingness to follow, faith, and the hope of His Kingdom.