Dependence on God - the need for Him in our lives - is universal. What that looks like and how it plays out in our daily lives can be very different, depending on where you are and what He has called you to do in a particular season of life.
I have been learning a new aspect of dependence on God since I have been home. While in Kenya, I literally have to depend on the Lord's strength to physically make it through the day. I face things on a daily basis that require His action to complete - in physical ways. Life is hard there. Even though I am blessed beyond measure to have a wonderful house, great staff and ministry that is thriving under the Lord's direction, it is a difficult life. The "little things" become big. Simple tasks are complicated. Everything takes much more time than anticipated, and nothing goes as planned. It ALL requires total dependence on the Lord.
I came to America, the land I have idealized for some time, looking forward to a break from some of the daily insanities of life in a developing country. True, I got it, to an extent. Things are easier. Things go generally according to plan. Life is somewhat predictable, and there are patterns in society that are followed. This is NOT to say that life in America is "easy," it is just a different kind of life. Physical aspects of life are easier, but there are struggles here as well. In America, I find that most of those struggles are internal. I am still processing so many of those thoughts!
Either way - struggles in the physical aspect or struggles in the internal aspect of life - all require total dependence on God. As I jumped into American life a few weeks ago, it was so easy to bask in the "easiness" of life without taking it to heart. It is amazing how quickly the outside world can take over our thoughts when we are not actively walking in the presence of the Lord, depending on Him for our every breath and move. Life is not easy in America. It is different. The physical doings in life are easier in America, but the struggles are still very real. They require total dependence on God. If our day is not laid out and directed by the Lord, there are so many things that can creep in and take up the space that should be filled with His presence.
That is what I am learning. Whether in the land of surplus and plenty (yes, even with the current economic times, America can still be considered such according to standards of the world as a whole), or in a third-world country, we must be totally dependent on God for our every move. We must depend on Him if we are to be who He has called us to be ~ keepers of the Word, doers of His will. We should be so enveloped with His love and filled with His Spirit that there is no room for anything else to enter in as a driving force in our daily lives. This is His place. If we simply go through the motions of a quiet time, checking it off our list, without fully giving ourself and all of our being to the control of Him, we will not be who He has called us to be. That is what I am learning - a continual learning - a practice to practice.
Total dependence. It may have different looks, but the reality of it is the same. We are called to total dependence on Him. ~ for everything. I am thankful for this reminder, for the time to practice it, and for what He can do through me as I learn to give Him every part of my being to do with as He wills.
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