Story
What does it mean to be at your Wits End? The phrase is ancient and appears in some of the first English translations of Scripture. The Hebrew is literally translated, “the place where your wisdom has been swallowed by the sea.” It’s the place we have risked greatly and exhausted all our provisions to get to, only to find that we have now come into the greatest of peril. It is the place where our illusions about life are stripped away. It is the place that our true character is revealed to ourselves and to others. It is the place where our desperate need to cry out for God is fully aroused. It is the place that no one wants to be, but is on the very path to the abundant life promised to us by Jesus.
plying the trade routes of the world.
They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action,
his impressive works on the deepest seas.
He spoke, and the winds rose, stirring up the waves.
Their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths;
the sailors cringed in terror.
They reeled and staggered like drunkards
and were at their wits’ end.”
Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves.
What a blessing was that stillness as
he brought them safely into harbor!
Let them praise the Lord for his great love
and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation
and before the leaders of the nation.
