After God's Own HeartSample

ACTIVE DEPENDENCE

I remember a time as a junior in high school when life was hectic. Exams were coming up, college applications were in full swing, and it seemed like everybody around me was moving faster than I was. I was stressed, anxious, and didn’t know how to cope. I remember asking myself “Why am I so stressed?” and “Why does it feel like everything is against me?” Jesus doesn’t promise us a life of luxury and constant happiness. In fact, He actually guarantees that we will face many difficulties. So, as believers, what do we do when life gets hard?

The story of David and Goliath is perhaps one of the most well known stories of the Bible. David, a young shepherd boy, faces a giant who should have crushed him. However, against all odds, David conquers Goliath. How did he do it? Because of his active dependence on the Lord. David was smaller and weaker than Goliath, but he relied fully on the strength and power of God to come through and deliver him. He proclaims this confidence to Goliath, “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands.” Then, depending on God for victory, he picked up the stone and threw it.

Our God is good. He simply uses the bad times for good things. Romans 11:36 “for from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever and ever.” God uses our stress, our struggles for His glory and our own good. God uses our weaknesses and makes them strengths for His kingdom. Even in the most dire and difficult situations, God is our provider and deliverer, and as such, we should depend all the more on His power, wisdom, and peace.

So what does this mean for us? Paul writes in Philippians 4:6-7 that we are to not be anxious, to pray consistently, and relinquish our struggles to God, and His peace will overcome us. Use today as an opportunity to depend on the Lord and then actively work to do the work He has set before you.

ASK YOURSELF: Have you been living your life as a reflection of dependence on the Father? In what ways have you been depending on your own strength, rather than giving it to the Lord?