Reliant

"You show that you are a letter from Christ...written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence and steadfast reliance and absolute trust that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficiently qualified in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency and qualifications come from God."
                                                                                                                        2 Corinthians 3:3-5




It seems illogical to believe that our weaknesses and shortcomings can be used by God to become avenues of blessing, and yet, when we rely on His sufficiency, that is exactly what they are. It is in our frailties that God delights to show Himself strong because then He alone is glorified. Even more than this, God desires intimacy with His children and it is from this intimacy that flows the power and purpose for which we are created.

The level of intimacy we have with Christ lies solely on our shoulders. We get to choose how close to God we become and the degree to which we depend upon Him. When we truly develop the spiritual discipline of practicing God's presence through worship and meditation, this is when everything in our lives begins to change. The more we experience God, the more we want to experience Him and this shifts our priorities to sacrifice the lesser things in life.

Total reliance occurs when we know and trust God because we are assured that He deserves that level of dependence because of His great love for us and ability to work all things for our good. The definition of the word reliant is "having or showing dependence; confident; trustful". Most believers would look at this definition and believe that they are completely reliant on God, but this is the part where deeper insight is required. It begs the question, "Do I really have an accurate perception of my limitations and inadequacies and do I really trust God to make them strong within me?"

Our society rejects the notion of any weakness as being a good thing. And yet, from a biblical perspective, God gives us many benefits for our insufficiencies. The primary benefit being that, as we surrender to Him, Christ then becomes All-Sufficient to us.

Christ's sufficiency far supersedes anything we can do on our own. It is His sufficiency that enables us to "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition]...Invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, exercising every kind of endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God's holy people) in the Light" (Colossians 1:10-12).

When we are truthfully willing to take account of our weaknesses, we will recognize that it is our inadequacies that force us to work in the power of the Holy Spirit. Anything that drives us to our knees and propels us toward God is a good thing. Fellowship is the sweetest with our Heavenly Father when we realize that not only can He supply all our needs, but that He is already wanting and waiting to do it.

Our limitations will relieve us from the burden of trying to do things in our own strength. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can carry the burdens and weights that would crush us if we were standing on our own.  Even when our circumstances seem to be relentless, God will deliver us to walk in victory. He alone can give us a calm and a contentment that only comes from the quietness of our spirit. Either we will relinquish our struggles and cease striving or we will proceed in our own strength and quickly become overwhelmed.

When we humble ourselves enough to feel our need, God will raise us up to new heights. Acknowledging our shortcomings allows God to get all the glory. This is when He knows that He can trust us with His power because He sees that we will steward it in the way He calls us to.

It is our lack that is engineered to magnify God's perfect sufficiency. It is the prayer of faith and confidence that keeps praying until something happens. As we contend and press in to seek the face of God, we find that Jesus is: our Deliverer, our Peace, our Protector, our Advocate, our Rock, our Defender, our Hope, our Righteousness, our Truth, our Counselor, our Comfort, our Sustainer, our Refresher, our Love, our Help, our Healer, our Companion, our Wisdom, our Strength, and our Faithful and Mighty God.

As we look to Jesus continually to meet our needs, we are transformed. And, when life is hard, and Jesus is all we have, we begin to see that God is much, much bigger than our circumstances. Matthew Henry, author and theologian, says, "If we have, through grace, an interest in Him who is the Fountain, we may rejoice in Him when the streams of temporal mercies are dried up."

We grow in our capacity to experience God and in or capacity to become steadfast in our walk. In the book of Acts, Peter quoted David as saying,"I saw the Lord constantly before me, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken or overthrown or cast down [from my secure and happy state]" (Acts 2:25).

The more we know God experientially, the more we will love, trust, and rely upon Him. It is inherent in these times in which we live that we know how much God loves us and that we are also passionately in love with Him. It is only this kind of love that will enable us to not be shaken in a world that seems to be inundated with tremors.

If we really take the time to spend with God and develop an intimate, rich relationship, we will also have the love and compassion that is active and brings life to others. Every time that Jesus experienced this type of compassion He was moved to heal, feed, and minister to those in need. Our vertical relationship then extends horizontally as we become doers of the Word.

When we are filled with God's Spirit we can change the environment everywhere we go. As we seek God's face in our lives, it is inevitable that others will be touched and changed by the power of God. Jesus reiterated this point to Martha (sister of Mary and Lazarus) when He said, "Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40).


                      "Grace is but Glory begun, and Glory is but Grace perfected."
                                                      Jonathan Edwards