Dependency

"In the world dependency is seen as immature, but in My Kingdom dependence on Me is a prime measure of maturity"

-Jesus Calling

  Rebecca received the daily devotional Jesus Calling by Sarah Young for her birthday in April. She now begins her quiet time with this little book and once she is finished with it I slip it out and read the daily excerpt for myself. The other day the book fell open to a page with the line above on it, although it wasn't the devotional assigned to that day I was struck with with word "dependency".
     It is not hard to be aware of Rebecca's dependency on those around her, especially for those of us whom she depends heavily upon. If she is cold at night she is completely dependent on one of us responding to her call and coming to give her another blanket, she is dependent on us to help her use her one hand to feed herself, she is dependent on us to give her the correct medications at the right time, to help place her arms and legs in the correct position, and the list could go on. Since her accident she has become completely dependent on those around her. And with that dependency comes trust, she must trust that we are taking care of all her needs and doing what is best for her.
    Rebecca's life is a beautiful example of dependency and trust. It isn't a perfect example, there certainly are times where she questions what I am doing (for good reasons I'm not perfect!) and there are also areas where her independence is protected. However, the way she graciously surrenders control and peacefully allows herself to be dependent on everyone to do almost everything for her is a beautiful picture of how we can be dependent on God.
   We live in a world where self-sufficiency is glorified and independence is idolized, and I am certainly not immune to any of this. I do believe that God gives us a certain amount of freedom and stewardship of the talents He has given us, but I also have become well aware of how my arrogance prohibits me from asking for His help and how tightly I treasure my independence.
     But in the Kingdom of God dependency is a sign of maturity not immaturity.....
Father doesn't want us to be consumed by demonstrating our own self-sufficiency, He wants to us to be consumed by experiencing how He is all sufficient. He doesn't want us to exert our independence but live out life with Him becoming fully dependent on Him. We know that we can rest in full dependency on God because He is capable of providing all of our needs and doing exactly what is best for us, because He is trustworthy.

Tulips from the Petrie garden

Lunch picnic with the Petrie clan and  friends celebrating the Belgian labor day, Premier Mai