At Wits' End

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At The End Of My Rope

Back in the days when I worked as a 911 operator, my emotions were all over the place. Not only did I have a five, three, and one-year-old at home to cause a little stress, but the job did as well. Some calls brought laughter, some grabbed your heart and kept you from sleeping, and some left you at wits’ end.

When you receive a call from someone using every word they can think of to tell you how horrible you are and then ask you for help, it’s not really what you want to do. One day while working, it was one agitating call after another. It must have been a hot summer day because everyone called angry. An hour from the end of my shift, I stood up from my chair and attempted to say, “I am at the end of my rope.” What came out was, “I am at the end of my wits’ end!” The officer sitting across from me giggled and said, “Wow, you are really at your end.” There were just days when seeing the worst of humanity got to be too much.

At Wits’ End

We have all experienced times of being at wits’ end. In these times we wonder how much more we can take before we crater. One summer stands out among them all for feeling this way. My husband had just finished his interim position at a church with no new position lined up. Around the same time, my twelve-year-old son was hospitalized, and the doctors did not know what was wrong with him.

He seemed to get a little better, and the doctor released him to return to football. Every time he went to practice, he got weaker and weaker. A week after him getting home from the hospital, we moved from our home into an apartment. A week after that, we heard that my husband’s mother had passed away. We traveled to the UK for her services and came home to my son, getting even sicker.

A few weeks later, I received a call telling me my son had thyroid levels that could kill him if he got his heart rate up. The doctor emphasized for us to make sure he remained still until we could get him to an endocrinologist. A few weeks later, the doctor diagnosed him with Graves Disease.

Childlike Faith

That is when I was truly at wits’ end. I did not know what to do any longer. One evening I laid in bed crying in desperation. I felt so lost, not knowing what route of treatment to take. My son walked by my room and heard me crying and he asked, “Mom, why are you crying?” I thought, does he not understand what is going on? So I told him I was scared for him and needed to know what to do. In his sweet childlike faith, he looked at me and said, “Mom, God’s got this. I am going to be ok.”

When we are at wits’ end, that is where God says, “I’ve got you.” It’s that place when we realize there is nothing we can do in our human strength to fix anything and we need God to intervene.

“They reeled and staggard like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.”
Psalm 107:27-28 NIV

God Brought Me Out Of My Distress

When we release control of the situation and pray for God to take control, that is when we get to watch the miraculous happen. It might not be in the way we would imagine, but He intervenes. When I thought I could not handle another thing and I prayed, God brought me out of my distress.

God did not provide a job for my husband for a year, but He provided financially for us the entire time. We saw Him provide in amazing ways and we knew it only came from Him. My mother-in-law’s death still leaves a hole in our hearts, but if we had not needed to travel, the doctors said my son would have died playing football. God directed us to great doctors, and the disease is under control. We were not thrilled about moving into an apartment, but God put people into our lives that became lifelong friends.

Psalm 107

When we call on God, He rescues us. If you read all of Psalm 107, you will find that God:

Delivers and saves us from our distress
Leads us
Satisfies the thirsty
Brings us out of darkness
Rescues us
Sets us free
He sends out His word
He heals
He stills the storms
He guides us
He blesses and sustains us

There is no end to what God wants to do for each of us and how He wants to use us. I encourage you if you feel like you are at the end of your wits’ end, come before Him and ask Him to take control of the situation. As my son reminded me. He’s got this.