You ever stop at the end of the day and realize you’ve not talked to or thought about God at all? Maybe you’re like me and you assume He is going to ask you to do something out of your own dried up well of resources?

Here’s a truth religion doesn’t often speak. Not one time does He ever ask us to only use our own resources.

He asks us to trust His.

The Israelites in the desert received nourishment from rocks. Not from anything they did or didn’t do.

Adam and Eve were not self sustaining. They were given the garden and animals to tend to and use as nourishment.

In Luke 9, Jesus sent the disciples specifically without basic survival supplies. He told them to depend on others for their needs.

Somewhere along the line Americans have developed a new idol - independence. Self reliance dressed in a false humility of not wanting to bother anyone else and proving we can do it ourselves. Instead of turning to Him and admitting our weakness, we ignore Him, shush His presence and pull ourselves up by the bootstrap to get the job done.

There is this mindset that has dominated us - if I just push myself to the next level, then I will be successful. It’s not the goal setting that is hurting us, it’s the fact that we think we have to do it all with our own strength, energy, resources. If we ever stop and ask for help or just push pause, we are afraid that our whole identity will just power down. We’ll be seen as fake and not really as strong, capable, independent as we thought we were.

Isn’t that the point?

For us to realize that we, in fact, cannot do it all? We do not have the ability to do this life on our own.

When will we truly realize, He doesn’t expect us to? We have nothing to prove to Him, yet we burn all our energy trying to impress and earn our love, protection, security.

There’s something in us that doesn’t want it if we can’t earn it for ourselves. That’s religion’s entrance point, the set of boxes to check. Church attendance, alcohol consumption, dirty mouths, politics, choice of friends, lines crossed on dates - it’s all held up as a litmus test to prove our worth. And its all bull.

Lay it down.

It’s already done. We spend our whole lives running after this value that’s already been given. Digging deep trying to make ourselves more resourceful, more needed, more worthy of just being alive. Proving He didn’t waste His breath on us. And He’s waiting patiently for us to realize that the air we are grasping for to take the next step comes from Him anyway. We don’t have to waste that breath trying to earn something He’s already given.

Stop trying to prove your own independence. Turn around and look into the Eyes. Tell Him your weaknesses, not so He can punish you, but so you can see where you are lacking and how glorious His gift of completion is for you. The point is in the connection. The joining of not enough and glorious abundance.

He doesn’t need you to put bread on the table. He wants you to sit at it and enjoy dining with Him. He’s the meal. He’s the comfort. He’s the peace. He’s the chef. You’re the company. Sit down Martha. He just wants you.