How Do We Have a Child-like Dependency?
Over the past month dependency has been a word that I have gone back to time and time again, specifically relating to how I depend on God in my life as a whole, and how I depend on him through my day-to-day mundane things as well.
In my last post, we talked about Why Kid's Ministry Matters and discussed some of the ways that we should be modeling after kids and looking to them as an example for how we should live out our faith. Today I want to go a step further and talk about how we can have a dependency on God the same way a child is dependent on their earthly parents.
What I mean by a childlike dependency is this. When a child is born, they are fully dependent on their parents to protect and provide for them because without them, they would not survive. Now as kids get older, they start to move towards being more independent and get to certain points where they believe they can do it all on their own.
Maybe you can think back to a time as a child where you tried to run away from home due to something that caused you to be upset. In that scenario, I think most of us can say that when we did that, a part of us expected mom and dad to come running after us, but when we got to the next block, we realized we were on our own. I don't know about you, but in my personal experience, when I realized there was no one coming to get me, I was terrified and realized I bit off more than I could chew.
I think a lot of times we can treat God this way. Maybe there was a season that you were completely dependent on God and you were chasing after Him wholeheartedly. Maybe there was a season where it was the complete opposite, you did things your way or the highway and ended up biting off more than you could chew. The reason I bring this idea up is sometimes we can choose to trust God with some, rather than trusting Him with everything. Because of our flesh, we choose to believe that we can do things on our own. We see this through stories in Scripture like the Prodigal Son and Jonah. Both characters in the story ran from their Father and chose to do things their own way, only to realize they both messed up big time.
Where in your life do you tend to try and go your own way, leading out and taking control of the outcome? I think for a lot of us, we can tend to think that we are being dependent on God in a certain circumstance, but in reality, we will tell ourselves whatever we need to in order to be in full control. It's our human nature to desire to have control and be in charge. Shifting from this idea of independency to dependency is not easy, it's something that takes hard work, discipline, and time. This is why we are to look to a child as an example.
I love the passage at the start of Matthew 18 in Matthew 18:1-5 which says, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Now this verse can be taken to mean a number of things, but here's the direction I want to focus on today. Having a childlike faith means having full dependency on God. We talked earlier about how a child is fully dependent on their parents to protect and provide, because without them, the child would never survive on their own. I truly believe that in order to grow in our relationship with Christ, we need to be looking to follow the example of a child.
As I was looking up the definition of dependency, this one really stuck out to me: "the quality or state of being dependent; the quality or state of being influenced or determined by or subject to another." Let's focus on the second part of this definition, the state of being influenced or determined by or subject to another. In simpler terms, I believe this to mean, letting someone else lead out your life, your thoughts, your decisions, rather than leading them out yourself.
Now in the terms of our relationship with the Lord, full dependency, a childlike dependency, looks like allowing God to have full control and full authority over your life. If He tells you to remove that thing from your life, you remove it. If He tells you to pack up your things and go, you go. Being fully dependent on God looks like allowing Him to fully dictate your life and trusting that He is doing all of it in your favor and for your good.
I like to think of it like this. Picture you're in a taxi. All of the windows around you are blacked out and as you're riding, you start to hear all these noises around the car. If you're anything like me, you would start freaking out because you can't see what is going on or what's ahead. Eventually, you get to where you're going and the driver rolls down the window, allowing you to see the final destination. At that point you may even think to yourself, "why did I even worry in the first place?" I like this idea because it is almost like our walk with God sometimes. Sometimes when we let God take control of our life, we can't see what's coming up next, causing us to freak out when things seem like they are falling apart. Ultimately though, once we reach our final destination, we are able to look back and see how God's hand was on it all along.
A lot of us know the famous song "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood and I think this saying truly does hold weight and truth behind it. Whether it may sound corny or not...where are you struggling to give Jesus the wheel? Where are you most hesitant to get out of the driver seat and let the Lord take full control of your life.
I think by being fully dependent on God, we are not only showing Him that we trust Him with everything in our life, but we are doing so out of obedience and faithfulness to Him. When we can say that our life is completely His, it gives Him the ability to do miraculous things in and through you. I don't know about you, but I want to live a life that has God completely involved. To do that, however, it takes me giving Him everything, even things that I tend to hold on to.
I think the reason this topic is so prevalent for me is because it is something I have been walking through in this past season of my life. Now, I can truly say that the Lord has helped reveal the areas in which I need to give Him complete control, rather than control over the things I hold less tightly. At the end of the day, why would we not want God to have full control over our lives? After all, He knows how our story begins and He knows how our story ends. Why then would we not want the God who knows how things will play out to take the reins and be a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path like in Psalm 119:105?
Going back to our original point of looking to a child as an example of this full dependency mindset. As a kid gets older and starts to blossom, thrive, and believe that they can survive on their own, they move into a stage of almost full independency. This is where I think it can become dangerous for us as believers if we are not careful. In the times that things go bad, it can be easy for us to cry out to God and look to Him for someone to lean on. What about when times are good? Are we still giving God full control when work is going well? When money is good? When our relationships are thriving? As we work towards reversing this idea of independency in our faith and relationship with Him, I warn you not to get comfortable when things are going well. Lean into Him, don't let up.
In the context of our faith, it needs to be pedal to the metal. Just because you hit the downhill slope, doesn't mean it's time to hit the brakes or coast through. Momentum is where things can be taken to the next level if we choose to lean into Him during the bad seasons AND the good seasons. God isn't just someone we go to when things are going horribly, He is who we go to when things are good, bad, and ugly. He wants to be in control over all areas and in all seasons of your life because He is a relational God and wants to be our guide in how we should live a holy and righteous life.
So, my final question is, where in your life do you need to be fully dependent on God so that you can fulfill the purpose and calling He has placed on your life?
