Spiritual Dependence
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
As humans, we are born centered around ourselves. We are born with a need to survive, we seek this out through our parents, food, milk, nurturing, everything. It is all about us. Picture a small child who sees something that he wants, and does not yet realize that the world is not all his own. As adults, without Christ, we are the same way.
We walk through life wondering what is in it for us. We help those who can help us. We help those when it is advantageous to us. If we are busy, too bad. If we don't have time, too bad. If someone seeks the type of help we do not wish to offer, too bad. If we are too tired, too bad. It is all about us.
Even in our faith, we can live this same type of immaturity. We wonder what WE have to offer. We ask where God is going to send US. We ask how WE can do something that seems impossible. We ask how WE will find the words. We are leaning on our own understanding. We are still the center of our lives, instead of God. We have yet to unlock the full potential of our Faith and our Love, that remains locked up just below the waterline.
Why, though? Why do we act like this? Even after we read the Word of God, we do not put our complete and utter trust in the LORD. I have an idea. Are you ready for it? Brace yourselves, now. It might knock you down.
Fear.
Yes. That one little word. Fear. We are lost in the darkness of the forest and cannot see where our next step will be, and we cry out to the wilderness "where is this path leading me???? I cannot see!!!! Please SHOW me my path!!!" And God is right there next to us, ready to guide us through His Will, waiting for us to call out to Him, waiting for us to reach out our hands. Yet we never do.
So many of us attempt to maintain an absurd amount of control over our lives and surroundings. We need to balance the checkbook. We need to plan out our retirement with IRAs, 401 K plans, and map out our future. We lean on our own understanding. We fear the unkown, so we never place our complete and blind faith in Christ the LORD. Because, then we will be out of control. We fear the unknown.
Yet it is in that darkness, that God is wanting us to call on Him the most. In the Psalms, David calls the LORD his shelter, his protector, his rock, his salvation, his comfort, his fortress. That is what the LORD was to him. Even when enemies were all around him, the dogs nipping at his heels, so to speak, he never lost his faith. During the good times, the LORD was the center of his life. He followed the LORD's law and bidding in all things. Throughout 1 and 2 Kings, the LORD maintains Israel on behalf, in memory, of David, His faithful and obedient servant.
We are most afraid of letting go, of taking our hands off the wheel, and allowing someone else to drive, even the LORD. I mean, we can't see Him, feel Him, hear Him, or smell Him. And to our human minds, letting to Him is truly difficult. Yet, that is exactly what we must do in order to unlock the blessings that He has waiting for us.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart." Not just part of it. Not just when we need Him. Not just when it is convenient. Not just when it is safe. With ALL my heart. ALL the time. Dueteronomy tells me not to forget the things that I have seen or let them slip from my heart; to teach them to my children. Phillipians 4:8-9 tells me: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
These things are from God, the LORD, not from myself. This is not my understanding. This is not my own knowledge. Only the chosen were to understand the parables that Christ had spoken when we walked the earth, in His blameless, perfect, sinless self. The pharisees did not understand His words, for their hearts had been hardened by the LORD. Simple men understood and embraced Him as the Christ, the LORD.
This comes down to dependence on the King, the LORD, not on ourselves, not on our own understanding. That is scary, isn't it? Not very easy to put into practice, is it? When we are falling into an abyss and we are fighting and grabbing and reaching, we need to reach for the hand of the LORD that is always there waiting to rescue us. We need to be dependent on Him.
Instead of asking him for material blessings, we need to trust in Him to bless us in ways that we cannot fathom, preparing our room in the mansion on the hill. Instead of saying "thank you" when someone praises us, we need to say "Thank the LORD, it is through Him that I can do this". Instead of pursuing selfish paths, we need to trust in the LORD, be dependent on Him. NEED Him. That is true Faith. To trust and believe in something that I cannot say, to be surrounded by darkness and still step forth, knowing that I am not alone, trusting in Him. That is faith...
We need to be on fire the LORD, not ourselves.
I am nothing but a helpess sinner.
He is all.
He gives all.
I praise Him in all that I do.
As humans, we are born centered around ourselves. We are born with a need to survive, we seek this out through our parents, food, milk, nurturing, everything. It is all about us. Picture a small child who sees something that he wants, and does not yet realize that the world is not all his own. As adults, without Christ, we are the same way.
We walk through life wondering what is in it for us. We help those who can help us. We help those when it is advantageous to us. If we are busy, too bad. If we don't have time, too bad. If someone seeks the type of help we do not wish to offer, too bad. If we are too tired, too bad. It is all about us.
Even in our faith, we can live this same type of immaturity. We wonder what WE have to offer. We ask where God is going to send US. We ask how WE can do something that seems impossible. We ask how WE will find the words. We are leaning on our own understanding. We are still the center of our lives, instead of God. We have yet to unlock the full potential of our Faith and our Love, that remains locked up just below the waterline.
Why, though? Why do we act like this? Even after we read the Word of God, we do not put our complete and utter trust in the LORD. I have an idea. Are you ready for it? Brace yourselves, now. It might knock you down.
Fear.
Yes. That one little word. Fear. We are lost in the darkness of the forest and cannot see where our next step will be, and we cry out to the wilderness "where is this path leading me???? I cannot see!!!! Please SHOW me my path!!!" And God is right there next to us, ready to guide us through His Will, waiting for us to call out to Him, waiting for us to reach out our hands. Yet we never do.
So many of us attempt to maintain an absurd amount of control over our lives and surroundings. We need to balance the checkbook. We need to plan out our retirement with IRAs, 401 K plans, and map out our future. We lean on our own understanding. We fear the unkown, so we never place our complete and blind faith in Christ the LORD. Because, then we will be out of control. We fear the unknown.
Yet it is in that darkness, that God is wanting us to call on Him the most. In the Psalms, David calls the LORD his shelter, his protector, his rock, his salvation, his comfort, his fortress. That is what the LORD was to him. Even when enemies were all around him, the dogs nipping at his heels, so to speak, he never lost his faith. During the good times, the LORD was the center of his life. He followed the LORD's law and bidding in all things. Throughout 1 and 2 Kings, the LORD maintains Israel on behalf, in memory, of David, His faithful and obedient servant.
We are most afraid of letting go, of taking our hands off the wheel, and allowing someone else to drive, even the LORD. I mean, we can't see Him, feel Him, hear Him, or smell Him. And to our human minds, letting to Him is truly difficult. Yet, that is exactly what we must do in order to unlock the blessings that He has waiting for us.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart." Not just part of it. Not just when we need Him. Not just when it is convenient. Not just when it is safe. With ALL my heart. ALL the time. Dueteronomy tells me not to forget the things that I have seen or let them slip from my heart; to teach them to my children. Phillipians 4:8-9 tells me: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
These things are from God, the LORD, not from myself. This is not my understanding. This is not my own knowledge. Only the chosen were to understand the parables that Christ had spoken when we walked the earth, in His blameless, perfect, sinless self. The pharisees did not understand His words, for their hearts had been hardened by the LORD. Simple men understood and embraced Him as the Christ, the LORD.
This comes down to dependence on the King, the LORD, not on ourselves, not on our own understanding. That is scary, isn't it? Not very easy to put into practice, is it? When we are falling into an abyss and we are fighting and grabbing and reaching, we need to reach for the hand of the LORD that is always there waiting to rescue us. We need to be dependent on Him.
Instead of asking him for material blessings, we need to trust in Him to bless us in ways that we cannot fathom, preparing our room in the mansion on the hill. Instead of saying "thank you" when someone praises us, we need to say "Thank the LORD, it is through Him that I can do this". Instead of pursuing selfish paths, we need to trust in the LORD, be dependent on Him. NEED Him. That is true Faith. To trust and believe in something that I cannot say, to be surrounded by darkness and still step forth, knowing that I am not alone, trusting in Him. That is faith...
We need to be on fire the LORD, not ourselves.
I am nothing but a helpess sinner.
He is all.
He gives all.
I praise Him in all that I do.
posted by Jim at 10/24/2004 03:28:00 PM
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