Independently Dependent

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus… And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Reading from Philippians 4, these verses specifically stood out to me after my devotional today. After I read through both of my devotionals, I thought about the difference in two people: independent and dependant.

An independent person, someone who is free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others… someone who is self-reliant. This kind of person is someone who doesn’t always need others, who can rely on themselves rather than looking to others for affirmation or help.

A dependent person is just the opposite. Someone who relies on another or others for support or for guidance. Some might say, these are the lovers of the world… the ones who just cannot bear to be alone.

When these two different personalities came to my mind, I examined myself and found that naturally I am a dependent person. I enjoy the presence of other people and quality time with people one on one. I love giving advice, and I love receiving advice. When I make decisions about my life, most of the time it is after I have talked to someone close in my life for guidance. But then I looked at other close people in my life and found that I had a variety of friends both independent and dependent. Neither of which was bad, just different. But then I thought about my relationship with God, did it reflect my personality or was it the opposite?

God has designed us to need him in every moment of everyday, he created us not be self-sufficient and independent but to have a constant reliance on him. He wants us to be aware of our inability to get through life alone and recognize that he can meet each and every need that is in accordance with his plan, and it does not drain him or his resources at all. My devotional related our relationships with God to our relationships here on earth… If I were to only have a short conversation with Cory once or maybe twice a day, or just go days maybe even weeks without spending quality time with him… our relationship would fall to pieces. If I expected our relationship to be easy and not have to do any work, it would not function… as it is the same with our relationships with Jesus Christ. It takes quality time, conversation, trust, faith, forgiveness, grace, and understanding… All of the same bases of foundation needed for our relationships in our own lives. But why should we be surprised that our relationships with others should reflect our relationship with God? God calls us to love others, that when we love our brother or our enemy, we are loving God. GOD is love… Every form of love was created by God, for us to love God and love others, to build relationships with people and our relationship with God.

God is always there, always waiting for us... always loving us. It is US that has to make the decision to love him in return, to serve him in return... It's all on us, to be independently dependent on our Father and to have a relationship built on the same values and respect as any other relationship.