the seduction of independence...

I draw inspiration from a variety of sources. An awesome thing about God is He is more than capable of using any means necessary to get our attention. Tonight I was inspired by a good friend's twitter feed. I'm not sure of the context they were using, but God spoke to my heart all the same.

"the seduction of independence.."

I began to think of how I pull away from my Father to fight things on my own. How the majority of the time I carry on with my daily activities without submitting to Him. And how ridiculous that is, when I am completely and utterly dependent on Him...for everything.

"I am the vine and you are the branches.When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing." John 15:5, Msg.

Our posture before God is to be child-like, waiting, trusting, and in full expectation of His provision. We ask for our "daily bread" or that which we need to sustain us each day. We are to be completely dependent upon Him. That is what the relationship should look like.

Seeking independence from Him, even if we do it subconsciously, is not how we were created to live. We will fail, and fail, and fail again, and He will allow it, because He loves us enough to let us realize our need.

This world teaches us that independence is valuable, desired, and worth the pursuit. And independence can be a very healthy thing. I've actually spent some time in recovery for co-dependence. (We can get into that later!) But here's something about satan...he takes something that could be good, that looks good, that perhaps isn't altogether bad...and then lures us in with half-truths and half-promises. And a half-truth is no truth at all.

Big picture: we are not to be dependent or co-dependent upon any human, or any thing, substance, etc. We are to be independent individuals who answer to God with a complete and total dependence on Him. We love others. We embrace community. But we are abide in Christ alone. That will bring abundance of HIM in our lives, and drown out the whisper of want.