This is something I will probably never learn or grasp completely. It’s something I have to strive for, something I remind myself of, something I ask God to help me with, every single day.

Complete and total dependence on the Lord.

In my life it’s easy for me to default to: “I’ve got this, I can handle this, I know what to do.” Not in an arrogant way, but in a “I have been trained, taught, demonstrated, etc to do this or that. I can do it.”

A beautiful reality that I’ve learned about Jesus lately is that He is continually knocking on hearts to come inside. Knocking on the door of my heart. And self-reliance is one of the main reasons that keep him standing outside.

Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!” Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. Psalm 116:4-5

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Acts 2:21

Calling on the Lord. A confession of dependency. It’s a shift from self-sufficiency to God-sufficiency, right? From independence to dependence, from isolation to intimacy. I don’t know about you, but I find myself confessing, asking for forgiveness, and repenting a lot. But that root of self-sufficiency, of self-reliance — whether it be how to handle a situation, an idol, a worry, a project, etc — is deep. Not so deep that the Gospel of Jesus cannot penetrate, here me there, but something I personally combat most often.

Before God’s people were known as Hebrews or Christians, they were known as “the people who call on the name of Lord.” This is the heartbeat of my relationship with Jesus.

I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; O bless me now, my Saviour, I come to Thee.” (Annie Hawkes)

I experience so much more intimacy with God in seasons of complete and total reliance on Him. When my worship is aimed at God alone and when I submit to His direction, provision, authority, and grace. I’ll admit it is difficult. It’s a shift from pride to humility. It requires getting beyond worldly position, skills, personal capacity, image and gifts to see that I need Him.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalm 16:2

Honesty time: I pray and plead with God to help me with this. Because most of the time it’s not a big leap with lots of energy, it’s a small step, but I’m interacting with Him. I’m relying on Him, and that I think He smiles about… no matter how slow the sanctification is. I don’t want to hold Him at arm’s length because of my own self-confidence. That sounds sad. But I do it, more often than my soul likes to realize. Thank you, Lord, for Grace that covers all.

Let us not look inwardly on ourselves, where there is everything that will sink us. But let us look with an undivided heart of faith to Jesus, and with faith rest on his finished work. He cannot lead us wrong, we are complete in Him, and He loves us as His children.

If you are a Christian, have you learned anything new in your relationship with Jesus lately? I’d love to hear about it.