As you read this first paragraph, I want you to imagine. Imagine what it would be like to be showered with every good and perfect blessing from God. Imagine what living in the center of God's will, goodness, and love would look like. Really think about it - what a life that would be! Now realize that this is all possible! If we are totally dependent on God, if we give Him ourselves, we will live in the center of His abundant blessing!
Then why do we not do this? According to the way that most of us act, it would seem that we have no desire to live such a life. Why do we let things get in the way of being totally dependent on Him? What sort of things get in the way? Also, what does it mean to be Totally Dependent on God?
Many times this week, I have felt like Paul:
Many times this week, I have felt like Paul:
"For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing." - Romans 7:19
As I read Romans 7:15-19, I realize (once again!) that I can do NOTHING without my God! No matter how much I want to do good and don't want to do evil, I will fail if His Spirit is not helping me! What can I do about this? The solution to this problem is simple - ask for His help! Genius idea, right?
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." -Matthew 7:7
All we have to do is ask for His Spirit to guide us, and He will enthusiastically respond! God wants for us to ask Him for help. He loves to see us succeed much like a father loves to see his children succeed! This said, why don't we ask?
Some of simply don't realize that it is that easy! We think about our sins - about our inadequacy. We think that just asking seems not good enough. Others of us are scared. We feel that if we ask God to guide us, that we are giving up control of our life. No one likes feeling powerless so it is often hard to give up our "power". Whatever the reason, however, His love overcomes it! Sins? - He has forgiven them! Inadequate? - Not to Him! Scared? - He is Peace! Feel powerless? - He is a Guide with our best interests at heart! We can trust Him!
Also, what does Totally Depending on God really mean? This week, I've found that it doesn't just mean giving Him your day. It means trusting Him with your past, present, and future. That is hard for me! I have things in my past that hurt - I like things the way they are right now - I have plans for my own future. However, I want to live in the center of His will and love. Therefore, I have to depend on Him to trust that He knew what He was doing in the past, trust that He still knows what He is doing with me today, and trust that His plans for my future are better than my own!
With this said, imagine one more time God's perfect goodness... now let's go live in it! I am praying for you, for I also am trying to overcome myself and depend on God. May He help us all!
Oh Father, you are such an amazing God! Why you love us I have no idea, but I am extremely greatful. I come to you, worthless and helpless, asking you to help me. Help me to do the good I want to do - let your Spirit guide me for I fail miserably on my own. Please take away the feelings of inadequacy and fear as I give my life over to you. Do with me as you will - past, present, and future - heart and soul - I am yours. Thank you for being such a loving God!
"You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas..." -Psalm 65:5
2 comments:
How do I post! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
You got to love Avery23!
SL - There are many layers to what holds us back from depending on God. The first of which is our tendency not to even ask the questions you posed. The second is being too busy to give it any real attention. The third is the realization of how difficult it will be to reorient our lives to being totally dependent on Him. We have been trained to be dependent on our understanding of God's truth. We have been trained to be dependent on our church attendance or our connections with other people who have faith. But we are not trained to rely completely on God. This includes all of these things, but is not the basis of our relationship with Him. Thanks for the question about what it would be like to be in the center of all of God's blessings. Spending some time there, picturing every element that God shares with us in His Word, is energizing and refocusing.
Post a Comment