Dependence

Independence.  If there’s one thing I learned from my dad, it was how to be independent. 

I’m not sure, but I suppose my brother and sister would say the same.

But independence can be a dual-edged sword. 

While every parent desires that their child grow up and become an independent adult, independence taken to an extreme can lead to isolation.  And that’s never good. 

That’s especially true since none of us were created to be truly independent.  None of us can make it through this life alone, no matter how hard we try. 

We need each other.  And just as importantly, if not more importantly, we need God.

That’s what God was trying to teach the Israelites.  He said,

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. (Deuteronomy 8:2-5)

One of the main lessons God tried to teach the people in the desert was that they needed him. 

He allowed them to hunger at times, and he allowed them to thirst.  But ultimately, he provided their every need, not even letting their clothes wear out.  (I wish the same could be said of my clothes).

But now, just before he was to bring them into the land he promised to give them, he warned them.

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”

But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. (17-18)

When we’re in need, it’s easy to for us to remember that we need God. 

But when we have everything we need, then it’s easy to forget we need him.  We forget that it is God that gives us the ability to earn a salary and buy the things we need. 

Instead, we think that it’s through our own efforts that we find success in life.  And so we no longer depend on God.  We depend on ourselves. 

But like I said, we’re not meant to live that way.

That was one of the lessons my dad had to learn. 

He had learned to be so independent that he could never really trust God 100%.  It was only when he lost his physical sight, that he gained new sight.  That he needed God and he needed others. 

Being blind, he couldn’t be independent any longer.

I suppose I’m still learning the same. 

I’m grateful for my dad’s lessons in being independent.  It taught me what it meant to be an adult.  But at the same time, it has sometimes been a block in my spiritual growth.  Instead of trusting God, I trust myself. 

And when God tells me to take a step of faith, I don’t because I’m not sure I can trust him.

So like my dad, I need to learn dependence.  I just hope that it doesn’t require me to lose my sight to do so.

Lord, teach me to depend on you.  To trust you.  To remember that you are all I truly need. 

Help me to trust you to the point that I will obey you.  That I will live on every word that comes out of your mouth. 

I thank you for my dad who taught me to be independent.  But Heavenly Father, now teach me what it means to depend on you.  In Jesus’ name, amen.