The door at the wit's end
Martha Olawale
“Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” Genesis 45:4-5
The story of Joseph is one of the greatest comeback stories of all time. It is filled with love, hate, betrayal, abandonment, favor, and forgiveness. He started as the favorite of his father and the most hated by his brothers. He was sold into slavery and landed in the home of a master who loved him and a mistress who desired him. But for God at the core, Joseph’s lineage would have ended with him dead at the hands of his brothers or in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
No matter who we are, we will all reach wits’ ends at some point. However, where the door at the end of those wits ends leads depends on the train we are riding on. If we’ve made ourselves the author and finisher of our own story, it might lead us to a state of hopelessness, but if we’ve trusted Christ with our world, it will surely lead to rest.
I’ve walked through the doors at my wit's end multiple times, and each time has led me on a path paved with grace and patience with God. Like David, while I do not have control over the circumstances the world throws at me, I have control over who I trust with them. And rain or sun, it’s impossible for Him to fail. Psalm 121:5-6 says, “The Lord watches over you, the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.”
To say that Joseph knows what pain is, is putting things mildly because each time he believes he has reached a resting season sends him through a different maze. Like I’ve done many times, I can imagine him sitting in a corner, asking why. “I love my brothers dearly; why do they hate me?” “I serve my master faithfully; why should the wife seduce me?” Other people’s actions were beyond his control, but they placed him at the story's center anyway.
As long as we keep Christ as the laser through which the maps of our lives are drawn, He will always catch us before we hit the ground. If you are a child of God, the door at your wit’s end won’t thrust you down from a mountain peak; it will rest you in the hands of God. Even when everything around you seems to be spinning in a sphere, the loving gaze of Christ will keep you steady.
