DEPENDENCE UPON GOD’S PRESENCE

Absolute dependence upon God is true Christianity. It is an atrocity that thinking people could ever conclude that we can do God’s work without reminding ourselves continually of our dependence upon God. There is no aspect of the Bible’s teaching on practical Christian living that deserves greater emphasis than this. Without the transforming power of God animating our actions, we are nothing more than empty shells. No changes will be made in our own hearts, in society, or in the personal lives of others through our actions unless God is pulling the strings. 

But we in our depravity like to think that we are ingenious enough to handle things on our own. We see this everywhere. When modern churches choose leaders, they take a human look and appoint them. No prayer and fasting in this day and time of enlightened sophistication. When it is time to chart a course, rather than waiting patiently upon the Lord, they listen to the “experts,” or have the men of “experience” stand up and call the group in some desired direction.

It’s always the people with money that are catered to in the modern church. Those who have nothing to offer the system get left behind. But Jesus made it plain that how we treat the poor is how we treat him (Matthew 25:31-47). Those who have been successful in the world need to understand that such says absolutely nothing about their ability to be insightful about spiritual matters. I would put more stock in the sincere prayers of a godly teenager for God’s direction than I would in the “wisdom” from some older men or women who have spent their lives in religion rather than ministry.

A continual, consistent sound must resonate from God’s people that we are following him one step at a time. Everything depends on him. We depend on him. “We are not able to do anything by ourselves. It is God who enables us to do all that we do” (2 Cor. 3:5).

Dewayne Dunaway