Why Is It So Hard For Us To Fully Rely On God?
Fully rely on God is a Christian statement we all would declare we do and should do. But, the reality is we all struggle with that from time to time.
Recently in my own life, I felt totally at a loss of what to do and prayed over and over again asking God to show me what He wanted me to do. I told God that I didn’t want to do something that He didn’t want me to do, but I just didn’t feel like I knew what He wanted me to do.
In true God fashion, He spoke to my persistent prayers straight out of His word.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33
You see, I wanted to know what to do to make my situation like I wanted it to be. Not only did I pray about what to do. I also asked God what was I not doing that hindered me seeing the manifestation of my prayers answered.
We think we have to do a certain thing, to be a certain way, or pray a certain way to get our prayers answered. While God says, “Seek Me, My kingdom, My righteousness FIRST, and I will give you what you want.”
Why Is It So Hard For Us To Fully Rely On God?
It really seems so simplistic. “Seek Me First. And I will give to you.”
For some reason, we don’t seem to be okay with such a simplistic approach. We battle, wrestle, struggle, get frustrated, discouraged, and sometimes chose to give up, rather than simply pursuing God.
Seeking God, His kingdom, and His righteousness, first and foremost reflects someone who learned to fully rely on God.
Let’s be real about the world we live in and the culture that surrounds us. The voices of our world teach us from our earliest days to grow up and become self-reliant. We are told that reliance or dependence on anyone other than ourselves is a weakness.
But I think God loves and is attracted to our weakness. In fact, 1 Corinthians 1:27 tells us God chooses based on weakness.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
1 Corinthians 1:27
We Don’t Have To Be Ashamed Of Our Weaknesses
Our weaknesses are the very thing God uses to draw us and show us that we need Him.
As a chosen child of God with all of our weaknesses, the priority thing God calls us to do is to seek Him first. Another way we could say it is, in Christ, we are called to fully rely on God.
The reality is that, as a believer, when we learn to fully rely on God, we find our greatest strength. But, we won’t fully rely on God until we acknowledge our own weaknesses.
In Christ, weakness isn’t a weakness. So, when we experience the weakness of not knowing what to pray, remember:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Romans 8:26
Has anybody been doing any groaning lately?
When you hear your groans, that is the voice of the Holy Spirit interceding for you in your situation! I don’t know if that excites you, but I think that is totally amazing! We don’t even need to know what to pray, but simply seek God, or, fully rely on God.
How Can We Fully Rely On God If We Don’t Release Our Burdens And Struggles To Him?
I love what my husband told me when I shared with him about my struggle to know what God wanted me to do. He told me that when he brought his burdens to God, He would pray about it and leave the results up to God. He said, “Pat, no matter what, the results are up to God.”
Think about the times in Scripture when people sidestepped seeking and fully relying on God. They ended up with a mess every single time. There are so many examples we can look at, but I want to look at Abraham and Sarah.
Abraham
Twice Abraham posed his beautiful wife, Sarah as his sister for his own protection, and she was taken into another man’s house. God protected Sarah, but Abraham’s action brought about problems for everyone involved.
Genesis 11:29-13:4 tells us about the first of the two stories. It tells us that God plagued the Pharoah’s house because of Sarah. This brought about a confrontation between them all, and Abraham and Sarah were sent away. Why didn’t Abraham seek God first and rely on Him instead of taking matters into his own hands?
Interestingly enough, Abraham didn’t learn his lesson.
In Genesis 20:1-21 we see the same exact scenario play out again. He doesn’t seek God first, but instead devised his own plan to protect himself. The result, Abimelech took Sarah into his house but did not touch her, but the women’s wombs of his household were closed because of Sarah. Then God told Abimelech about the ruse, and Abimelech rebuked Abraham and Sarah.
Now let’s turn the tables and look at Sarah’s lack of seeking and relying on God. She devised a plan that caused her own self more pain than she prepared for.
Sarah
Here is the context of the story. Abraham and Sarah settled and lived in Canaan for 10 years and Sarah was barren. At 75 years old, Sarah decided to give her husband her maidservant as a way to obtain a child. From the point her maidservant, Hagar conceived she hated Sarah, and Sarah’s home became a house filled with strife and turmoil.
Now I have to say, Sorry Abraham, but I am going easy on Sarah here.
Why? Because I understand Sarah. Ten years with the anticipation and expectation of a baby, yet nothing happened. I too might have taken matters into my own hands. Now, I don’t think it would have turned out any better, but I understand her impatience.
But, when we look at the biblical stories of times when men or women stopped seeking and relying on God, the results inevitably show us self-inflicted troubles that could have been avoided.
My encouragement - Seek God First & Fully Rely On God
The reason this is so important for us, is because God has our best interest at the heart of every detail of our life. He loves us. He is a perfect heavenly Daddy who knows what He is doing. We can seek God first and fully rely on God because He is faithful and trustworthy in all of His ways. That’s what His word teaches us and from my own personal experience, I have found His way always works out best. My way does not.
