Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. (Psalm 50:15)
In the Florida Keys there’s a landmark bait and tackle shop named Capt. Hook’s. It’s crammed full of fishing items and eclectic paraphernalia. Small signs dot the walls, like “I’ve only got one nerve left, and you’re on it.” For some reason that came to mind back when I was dealing with issues regarding my aging father, mainly about his driving the car. If you have an older parent, maybe you can relate to this: we didn’t want him driving any longer. His eyesight was not too good and he had some senile dementia. He was determined to keep driving. Only around town, of course. “Just to church, and the cemetary, maybe the bank or grocery, but only in the daytime.”
One afternoon we got a call to come and get him in a town about an hour away. Apparently he had been driving around, gotten disoriented, and was confused why he wasn’t at his local grocery store. I don’t know who I was more worried about, him or someone in another car he might hit. I did know I was coming to the end of my rope with the driving situation. I prayed a little bit about it, but actually I was trying to figure it out on my own. Many solutions formed in my thoughts; some were actually implemented, to no avail. He simply was not buying anything we did or said to convince him to give up driving.
There’s a saying, “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it.” It is best to go to the Lord first when we have problems. When we don’t, though, and all else fails and we’re at the end of our rope, it’s good to remember the knot’s got a name. Jesus.
We prayed and I turned my dad and the whole situation over to the Lord. Not long after that, he did make a decision to give up driving and give the car to someone needing transportation.
The plan is to remember to go to the Lord in prayer before getting to the end of the rope, and more importantly, that Jesus is the best knot name.
Sally I. Kennedy http://www.sallyikennedy.com sallyikennedy@bellsouth.net