Don’t deceive yourself with this myth. New college grads get a first job, move into a first apartment, and buy a new car. Wow, this feeling of independence and self-reliance is intoxicating. You think you’re independent, but your not. You are dependent upon your employer, your education, and your landlord just to name a few. One day, in pursuit of greater self-reliance, you start out on your own as a self-employed proprietor. Here’s where the “feeling” of self-reliance can really fool you. You’re not independent. You’re dependent on customers, product, production, and employees, just to name a few. Retired? Certainly you’re self-reliant by now. Nope, you’re now more dependent than ever. You rely on retirement fund performance, social security, Medicare, and so much more. So in the pursuit of self-reliance, you decide to move to a one-man island. Surely, this is self-reliance. Unfortunately, you’re wrong again. For starters, you’re dependent upon the rain to mature your fields and the soil to produce your crops.
I think you get the point. We are not independent nor are we self-reliant in the purest sense of the definition. We are very dependent and inter-connected with others throughout life. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re actually in control and can handle every situation that life throws you with self-made confidence. It is a mistaken mindset with an unpleasant future reckoning.
We are dependent upon one another, but more significantly, we are dependent upon God. If you must be dependent upon someone or something, why not be dependent on God? Why not move from self-reliance to God-reliance? Why not move from self-dependent to God-dependent? God wants you to rely on Him. He is our strength, provision, and help. He wants for us to trust, rely, and depend on Him. Here’s to all the myth believing self-reliant gullibles. If you have to be dependent, why not rely on the one who won’t let you down?
