In our culture and economy, self-sufficiency is venerated while neediness is seen as a downfall. I'm a product of this culture. I'm a single, hard-working woman who lives on my own and runs my own business. I've been taught to take care of myself and view neediness and weakness negatively.
But I'm also a child of God, a believer in Christ, a human designed to be in relationship with my Creator. I'm designed not only to be in relationship with my Creator, but to NEED him.
I recently met up with a dear friend who is also a believer and is going through multiple trials. Her mother-in-law has cancer, a dear friend and employee had a stroke and is dealing with memory loss, her grandfather passed away, and meanwhile she has a newborn and is attempting to run her own business and be strong for everyone. She was upbeat and positive and appeared surprisingly strong in the midst of these trials. I saw myself in her -- the typical American Christian -- self-sufficient, yet trusting in Christ and knowing that God "never gives us more than we can handle."
With how much that phrase gets thrown around in Christian circles, you'd think it comes straight out of the Bible. But it doesn't. And while it is well-meaning, I don't think it's true. I recently read a great book by Greg Lucas called Wrestling with an Angel. In it, he shares about his personal journey of raising a son with special needs. He wrote something that hit me hard in the gut:
"I hear religious-minded people say all the time with good intentions, 'God will never place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot carry it.' Really? My experience is that God will place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot possibly carry it alone....All the while He will walk beside you waiting for you to come to the point where you must depend on Him. 'My power is made perfect in your weakness,' He says, as we strain under our burden."
God isn't looking for us to buck up under trial and be self-sufficient. He WANTS us to need him.
I read a daily devotional called Jesus Calling that is based on Scripture but is written as if Jesus were talking to us. A recent entry drove all this home for me:
"My Peace...is still your deepest need, and I, your Prince of Peace, long to pour Myself into your neediness. My abundance and your emptiness are a perfect match. I designed you to have no sufficiency of your own. I created you as a jar of clay, set apart for sacred use. I want you to be filled with My very Being, permeated through and through with Peace."
I am a product of my culture and so easily lulled into self-sufficiency. But self-sufficiency is not valued in God's economy. He values our neediness. This realization is SO transformative for my soul and something that I need to be reminded of on a daily basis (so much so, that I wrote it on the inside cover of my journal under the heading "Daily Reminders."). The God of the universe not only designed me to need him, but he LONGS to pour himself into my neediness. Amazing.
But I'm also a child of God, a believer in Christ, a human designed to be in relationship with my Creator. I'm designed not only to be in relationship with my Creator, but to NEED him.
I recently met up with a dear friend who is also a believer and is going through multiple trials. Her mother-in-law has cancer, a dear friend and employee had a stroke and is dealing with memory loss, her grandfather passed away, and meanwhile she has a newborn and is attempting to run her own business and be strong for everyone. She was upbeat and positive and appeared surprisingly strong in the midst of these trials. I saw myself in her -- the typical American Christian -- self-sufficient, yet trusting in Christ and knowing that God "never gives us more than we can handle."
With how much that phrase gets thrown around in Christian circles, you'd think it comes straight out of the Bible. But it doesn't. And while it is well-meaning, I don't think it's true. I recently read a great book by Greg Lucas called Wrestling with an Angel. In it, he shares about his personal journey of raising a son with special needs. He wrote something that hit me hard in the gut:
"I hear religious-minded people say all the time with good intentions, 'God will never place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot carry it.' Really? My experience is that God will place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot possibly carry it alone....All the while He will walk beside you waiting for you to come to the point where you must depend on Him. 'My power is made perfect in your weakness,' He says, as we strain under our burden."
God isn't looking for us to buck up under trial and be self-sufficient. He WANTS us to need him.
I read a daily devotional called Jesus Calling that is based on Scripture but is written as if Jesus were talking to us. A recent entry drove all this home for me:
"My Peace...is still your deepest need, and I, your Prince of Peace, long to pour Myself into your neediness. My abundance and your emptiness are a perfect match. I designed you to have no sufficiency of your own. I created you as a jar of clay, set apart for sacred use. I want you to be filled with My very Being, permeated through and through with Peace."
I am a product of my culture and so easily lulled into self-sufficiency. But self-sufficiency is not valued in God's economy. He values our neediness. This realization is SO transformative for my soul and something that I need to be reminded of on a daily basis (so much so, that I wrote it on the inside cover of my journal under the heading "Daily Reminders."). The God of the universe not only designed me to need him, but he LONGS to pour himself into my neediness. Amazing.
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