What is your first instinct when you face a problem in your life? Do you:
- Get really anxious?
- Go into denial that the problem even exists?
- Enter problem-solving mode and start to develop a plan?
- Call your mother? Or father? Or someone else whose advice you trust?
As a Christian, your first instinct should be to pray:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5
God has promised his presence with us and his help for us. But that help comes to us when we turn to him in prayer.
Everything else–anxiety, anger, denial, planning, complaining, etc.–we do when we have a problem, comes from a place of self-dependence. We feel those emotions and do those actions because we feel the responsibility to fix the problem. Our instinct is toward self-dependence but we know we might fail! It is hard to depend on yourself because you know your own weaknesses, limitations, and track-record of failure.
The Christian life is about God-dependence. You became a Christian when you stopped trying to do it yourself and turned in repentance to God in faith for forgiveness and salvation. That’s how your Christian life began.
But your Christian life proceeds in dependence on God, too. Jesus said:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
Here’s a truth I read in a Bible commentary today:
“Most of us turn to God only when we have exhausted every other option.”
Craig L. Blomberg and Mariam J. Kamell, James, vol. 16, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 62–63.
It’s true, isn’t it?
One reason why God allows and even brings problems into our lives is to teach us to depend on him. He wants to retrain our instincts so that we turn to him FIRST instead of as a last resort.
What problems are you dealing with today? Why not take a moment and ask for God’s help in prayer?