Dependent on God
Lord, I need you. How often do we say, (or sing) those words in a given day? In fact, I’m known speak out loud and say, “Lord, I need your grace, right now in this moment” on a fairly regular basis (usually in the presence of my children).
Dependent on God
But no matter how much I recognize my need for God and His presence in my life, I find I have a tendency to pursue a lifestyle independent of Him. My mind can get consumed with thoughts of, “if only I made enough money so that I wouldn’t have to struggle financially anymore”, “if only my health allowed me to pursue my goals and dreams”, “if only my marriage were like hers, or his, or theirs”…
If only everything were exactly the way I want it, I would no longer need to be fully dependent on God.
The fault in this logic is that God would never lead us into independence. He did not create us to be independent of Him. We were created to live, walk, mourn, struggle, rejoice, and everything else in a place of full dependence on God.
The truth is, we don’t want to be dependent on God. We do like having Him in our life, but we imagine that we’d appreciate His presence more if we were able to stand on our own two feet. We imagine that we would feel more comfortable if life were good and we were in control of our circumstances.
In God’s Word we find over and over again that the most desperate seekers of God are the ones most in need of Him.
The Israelites in the book of Exodus
The blind beggar in Luke 18
The synagogue leader and the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years in Luke 8
These are just a few examples, but over and over again in the Bible you find the theme of the needy and desperate running after God, crying out for His help. In contrast, after an interaction with a rich, young man Jesus says,
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24 (niv)
An honest evaluation of our own spiritual journey will most often reveal to us that we come to God on our knees when our needs are great. Sadly, when life is good, every bill is paid, and there is money in the bank, our relationship with God falters; our need for him lessens, and He becomes nothing more than a memory of Someone we once knew.
A God Who died on a cross to pay our debt of sin in order to make a way for us to dwell in His presence for eternity would never ever lead us to a life independent of Him.
Are you fully dependent on God?
Copyright © Rebecca Onkar, Moms of Faith®, All Rights Reserved