Today, our country celebrates gaining our independence 235 years ago. For many people, it will be a day-long celebration—grilling out, swimming, hanging out with family and friends, and watching fireworks. Actually, Americans spend quite a bit of time celebrating independence—not just our country’s independence, but our own personal independence.
It’s right and good to celebrate some steps toward independence, such as when children reach developmental milestones (like being able to open the tube of Desitin all by herself when you aren’t looking. Oh, well; at least I now know how to get waterproof substances out of bed linens). But sometimes, independence shouldn’t be celebrated. That’s because it can be a really bad idea, or even tragic.
For example, trying to do everything on one’s own as a mom, failing to ask for help when needed, and refusing it when it’s offered falls under the category of “really bad idea”. Everyone needs help at some point. Maybe even at lots of points. It’s foolish to think we can or should move through life independently of other human beings.
But it’s tragic when we think we can be independent of God. We were made to need Him, and our refusal to acknowledge that fact doesn’t change a thing. One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to prevent people from realizing how much they need God. Sometimes he might have to actively move in their lives to convince them of this; other times, he doesn’t have to do a thing, because they already think that way.
I’m not referring only to non-Christians. True, by definition, they believe they don’t need God. But we Christians can act the same way, calling God in as a consultant when life gets too difficult and running the show by ourselves the rest of the time. Have you seen the bumper sticker that reads “God is my co-pilot”? What that’s saying is that God is a consultant. An assistant. The pilot consults God when necessary and otherwise handles things on his or her own.
How would we know if we are treating God as an assistant rather than chief pilot and architect? We can know if, when something bad happens, we consult friends and the internet before we pray. It’s also a pretty good indication when we can’t remember the last time we spent time with Him, but we can remember the last time we were on Facebook. Likewise, it should tell us something when we spend more time asking for God’s blessings than we do praising Him and putting ourselves at His disposal.
We’ve all been there, my friend. We’ve all been far too independent at times. And we’ll be tempted to “forget” God again in the future. How do we prevent this from happening? We can’t necessarily prevent the temptation. But we can make it such a priority to spend time with God and ask for His perspective that eventually, it will become unnatural not to do so. We can get so used to being in His presence and checking in with Him first that doing so will become as natural as breathing. (For more on this topic, see my recent series on “Growing in God: Mommy Edition”.)
I don’t know about you, but on this Independence Day weekend, I need a little more dependence in my life, at least where my relationship with God is concerned. I don’t want to be independent of Him. Ever. Countries may decide they don’t want another country to rule over them, but I know I need God to rule over me. I would take no pride in declaring my independence of Him; instead, I take pride in the greatness of the One Who is my Master. I want to be under His rule. I hope you want the same.
Joshua 24:15—And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.