Many of the young adults I’ve worked with are now at the age where they’re having kids of their own…one just last week in fact! This brings back lots of precious baby memories and makes me head right for our family photos. And I found a gem I had forgotten about…the Auto-feeder!
Maybe you can relate: You have a million things to do, and somehow it’s already bottle time again. If the kid guzzles 6 ounces of nourishment like an industrial vacuum, no problem. But for the “casual” eater in your arms, you need back-up. Enter the Auto-feeder! Sit ’em up, introduce the warm fuzzy blanket, then use said blanket as the perfect bottle hot-spot! I’m not gonna be modest here; it was one of my best ideas ever.
It would be nice – especially at 3am – for the little tikes to not require feeding, but when the need arises, it must be met, and often there’s only one person who can deliver. I’m learning that my needs are not all that different. It’s obvious that babies are dependent and need to be dependent, but there is a very important and real need for adults to be dependent too. This is especially true right after Easter, when the dependency of Lent and appreciation of Jesus’ sacrifice are often quickly forgotten instead of perpetuated.
Now the kind of dependency I’m not talking about are people who are quite content to unnecessarily live off others or those with dependence on substances. Rather, the dependence I didn’t know and have come to value is true dependence on God. Many times throughout the years I’ve prayed for God to bless things, fasted here and there, or gone to gatherings where we’d collectively seek God’s provision. These times are good, and I knew in my head that God needed to be present and active. However, I wasn’t forced to admit that no one else but him could make something amazing happen.
That changed a couple years ago. There were a few folks that I very regularly had to communicate with for several years, but our interactions became increasingly difficult and sometimes went very poorly. My own attitude was a player in this, but far from the only one. I had asked God for help, while trying several different techniques to improve communication, but nothing confirmed meaningful or sustained improvement. Finally, I was brought to the point of feeling that God would do nothing more and that I could do nothing more. At all. I was out of ideas, hopeless, and unsettled at not succeeding. And that’s when God did something more. He wanted me to have to depend on him, not just know I needed to depend on him, before he’d be the only one who could make amazing things happen (Click to tweet).
And he did. His poignant lesson brought me to confession, but also vindication. Humility, but also confirmation. Initial rejection, but then gradual acceptance and excitement! It took years of truly struggling with anger, obstruction, and injustice to bring me before God literally begging for help. And despite the progress, I still have to. And that’s very, very good.
Some people’s circumstances have forced them to depend on God from the get-go, and they know how God can provide when literally no one else can. But many of us have not truly had to depend on him completely, even if we’ve acted on the knowledge that it’s important.
Ever since God revealed his provision exclusively through my well-intended but unsuccessful inadequacy, I’ve been practicing ways to continue forcing – instead of just understanding – my dependence on him. Taking Sabbaths more seriously, making my Type-A self purposely not plan every detail, and regular breaks from enjoyable activities have all been small steps in the process of discovering dependence.
Pray for me as I still struggle to improve my response in likely God-given moments of desperation, but growth is happening. What are your ideas? Where might you put yourself in an undeniable place of true and utter dependence…a place God may prove he is the only one who can do the amazing thing you need most (Click to tweet)?
For more discussion on how our efforts and God’s provision collide, interact, and transform us in the best of ways, check out Healing Hereafter, my free e-book series. Instantly download all or any parts you want right here!
