Let me take a final brief excursion. I’ve written about spiritual practices, both rhythms and regimens, how they do not directly cause growth but rather put us in the stream of God’s grace so the Spirit can do His work in our hearts to transform us. I referenced Dallas Willard saying, “God’s address is at the end of your rope”. What did Willard mean and how does this connect with the spiritual disciplines?

The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 writes in the midst of experiencing a mysterious “thorn” where he pleaded with the Lord to remove it from his life. In God’s sovereign and good response was the ongoing presence of the gracious gospel. We know this because scholars mark these words in red, meaning these are the words of the Lord Jesus Himself! The answer is His continuing grace is sufficient for everything. This grace saved us and this grace is sufficient for us to stand on in the present.

Unlike the current mask we wear that gives the impression of power, being enough, having our act together we use to get through the Christian life, Paul actually says the Kingdom of God is the opposite. When we embrace our weakness, our finitude (I’m not omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, all-loving, etc.), and our brokenness, that is where true power comes from.

When we jump into these spiritual practices they have the effect of confronting false beliefs we all have. For instance, take the good Christian who acts out of their strength. They give this sense that they have it together and if they are broken, they mention it only in the vaguest of terms. While they might share a belief with you that God is sufficient for their needs, in actuality the deep belief they have in their heart is they are sufficient and it’s demonstrated every day in how they approach life and others. This is psychologically unhealthy as it causes a person to “split” between the public and private person. But it also unwittingly presents the gospel as “works righteousness” as one carries this tremendous burden to be sufficient in life. God’s shocking word is our sufficiency comes from Him alone (2 Cor. 3:9 ESV).

What the spiritual practices do, particularly the abruptness of the regimens, is confront the “beliefs” we tell other people with the real beliefs that are deep in our heart. They lead us to embrace our weakness taking apart the belief that somehow I must carry the burdens of the world on my shoulders. Take fasting for example. The point of fasting is not to fix. The point of fasting is to put ourselves in the position of realizing our real hunger is not merely for physical food but to be nourished by God’s sustaining and abiding Word (Matthew 4:4).

Fasting clears us out and opens us up to intentionally seeking God’s will and grace in a way that goes beyond our normal habits or worship and prayer.¹ 

Just as a person knee-jerks the response of self-sufficiency in life, fasting re-trains us by putting us in the midst of the gospel, that Jesus is completely sufficient to meet our needs. He is the source of life we should hunger for.

So when Willard says, “God’s address is at the end of your rope” what he means is God shows up when you realize that you are not sufficient the entirety of your life. In fact, you’re not sufficient for your spouse’s or your kid’s life. The sooner you embrace your insufficiency you will be in a place to actually grow. Contrary to the popular belief of “I am enough”, you really aren’t enough. The spiritual practices disrupt, they confront and take us apart, and they reveal our deep belief that we think we are enough by carrying the weight of life. His good work actually begins when we are weak and empty, at the end of our own ability to manage, control, and fix ourselves. That is what we partner with when it comes to the spiritual practices!

¹  Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook