Tie a knot

A little while ago, I logged on fb and looked at posts. I noticed the comment of a friend who wrote, “My fingers are raw and I’m slipping…”. This was a friend that I had been keeping in prayer for I knew that she has had one ‘life event’ after another over the past several months. Her post triggered a round of prayer.



I’ve been there at the end of the rope. You look down and feel as if you don’t hold on to the end as tight as you can, you are going straight into that dark abyss. When things are really bad you can already feel the emptiness as a dark shadow is over taking you. You aren’t just going to fall downward – the abyss is sucking you in. That’s when you are truly at the end of the rope.


I remember being on the edge of despair at rope’s end once and reading something that changed my perspective. Leo Buscaglia wrote, “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot, hang on, and swing!” I thought – well tying a knot would make it easier to hold on. Swing?....hmm…


So I did. I went out to the back yard on my kids’ play structure and swung. Remember that feeling you got when you were a kid on the swing? First, there’s comfort in the motion – like being rocked. Also there is kind of a feeling of being above it all. Almost like flying and leaving it all behind. Carefree. Remember trying to go higher and make your toes touch the sky?


I got off of the swing and realized I felt a little better.


When I get to the end of the rope, I tie a knot. Swing a bit. I will leave those troubles in God’s capable hands. When I’m done with my carefree swinging I can let go and land on the solid foundation of God’s love and grace. As another friend commented to the original post “there just isn’t anything else as stable and sure as God’s grace”.


To anyone at the end of your rope – my advice is TIE A KNOT..and SWING