In what sense are we to depend on the Lord with the realization that He doesn't do everything for us?

The Christian life is filled with apparently strange paradoxes. God is three persons and yet one God. God is directing human history, yet our choices are forming what that history looks like. Similarly, we depend on the Lord yet have personal autonomy.

Or better yet, if everything depended on God for anything good to happen, then how is it that things are not always the way they should be? Or if nothing depended on us for anything, then how are human beings responsible for failing?

These questions lie at the heart of understanding the tension between recognizing our dependence on God and realizing that God does not do everything for us. I'd like to accomplish three things here.

First, I want to clarify why this question matters in a few ways. Second, I want to present two opposite extremes that attempt to answer the question. And next time, I will suggest some possible ways that at least try to do justice to both.

There are at least two reasons why this question is fundamentally important for those in Christ. The first reason why it matters is that it shapes how we pray for victory over sinful habits or tendencies for ourselves and others. We apply or incorporate our understanding of God, ourselves, and the world He has created in the way we pray every day of our lives.

Is becoming a godly person only a matter of God working in us with us just simply, passively allowing Him to do so? Or is it a matter of cooperation with some dependence on us? What we believe about that question will reveal what we believe about the relationship between God and ourselves in bringing about His kingdom in our lives.

The second reason why it matters is that our answer will reveal whether we can consistently place God's providence over our lives and our responsibility to live a certain way in genuine harmony with each other. We have an obligation to be consistent in our minds about our dependence on God and what our role is. God is a God of order, not chaos. Even though the original context of that truth was about maintaining an orderly environment in the church while speaking in tongues, it may be reasonable to say that God's thoughts are perfectly ordered.

Setting our thoughts and what we believe in the right order is part of expressing our love of God with our minds. Reason and following rational principles that reflect God Himself is part of being a godly person. It is not glorifying or honoring to the Lord Jesus Christ to dismiss intellectual integrity (having harmony and order among the different things you believe) as not important.

With that being said, let me illustrate two extremes on how people might attempt to answer this question. The first extreme is to practically disregard one's need for God in highly important decisions and to rarely pray for divine guidance and empowerment.

This would be someone who attends church but who very rarely prays for his own spiritual journey and needs as well as the needs of others. That person may not consciously think that he does not need God, but he practically lives as if he does not depend on God that much.

The second extreme, I believe, is probably the most prominent and harmful to the Body of Christ, even though it is sometimes dressed up in a way that looks like it is glorifying to God when it very well may not be.

It is basically an overemphasis on dependence on God, with the result of believing that one only depends on God but no other people and that we must either "depend on God" or "depend on others." Or it might be phrased as depending on God vs. relying on one's own understanding.

Here is how it might play out in a few situations. You're sick with a cold or cancer and refuse medical treatment that can heal you because you don't want to "depend on man" but would rather "depend on God" to heal you. You choose not to work because you do not want to "depend on money and the economy" to meet your financial needs but would rather just pray for God to give you the money you need.

You choose not to study a passage in Scripture, read a book, or listen to a podcast about an important issue because you do not want to depend on man to give you the answer but would rather "depend on God."

And lastly, you choose not to try developing habits that will produce good character. Instead, you simply pray for instant deliverance because you don't want to "depend on yourself" but would rather "depend on God" for your victories. I made some extreme scenarios on purpose for this reason: to open our eyes to how we might be doing similar things, all in the name of "bringing glory to God."

With all of that being said, I hope you can see that it is actually easier to live based on a faulty view of God and ourselves than it is to live by the truth. Next time, I will make some suggestions that I myself am trying to incorporate into my life that I hope will be useful to you. Stay tuned!