He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Rom. 8:32

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb. 4:16

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

1 John 5:4

Why is it so hard for many of us to rely on God? After all, He is our Creator and Father. We should look to Him for everything in our lives, from the very small to the very important.

Whether it’s help getting us to work on time with a good parking spot or we’re trusting Him to see us through a bad diagnosis we just received, it should be the same.

Why do we waiver back and forth so much?

I believe that the biggest answer to these questions lies in the fact that we’re taught to be self-sufficient.

Especially for those of you reading this who grew up in the United States, we learn from a young age that it’s us against the world in many instances. 

If we’re going to get anywhere in life, we’ve got to buckle down and work hard, relying on help from no one but ourself. Because, ultimately, ourself is all we’ve got.

I don’t believe this same deep sense of self-sufficiency exists in other countries to the degree that it does in the U.S. 

Our country was founded on a spirit of independence, and this ideal is ingrained in us beginning at a young age.

Think of the founding fathers who broke away from rule under England to form their own country. That’s the kind of independent thinking we Americans are dealing with.

Going back to God—I believe that many of us feel more comfortable with the idea of fighting through the jungle of life by ourselves rather than waiting on God and relying on Him to help us fight through the bush.

It’s a quaint thought that God is there to help us, but do we really need Him? After all, we’ve been living this whole independence thing all our lives. 

Surely, we’ll be fine on our own.

Oh, if God wants to lend a hand here or there or open a door for us, we won’t object. We just won’t expect it or wait for that to happen.

The problem is that God doesn’t want us to embrace this individualistic attitude. He wants to be our everything, our all. 

Just as the famous verses in Proverbs 3:5-6 instruct us:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

In addition, several times in the gospels we are instructed to put God first and He will provide for us, like this passage in Matthew:

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matt. 6:30-33

For those of us used to relying on ourselves almost entirely to get through life, it is a difficult change to let God have His way with our life.

I think to really embrace the sovereignty of God in our lives, we need to saturate our minds with His word (the Bible), especially any passages that talk about trusting God, relying on Him, or waiting on Him.

We get impatient when things don’t go exactly as we want them to, and we often try to force changes that are better left to God. I know I’ve been guilty of that more than a few times.

As God tells us through the prophet Isaiah:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isa. 55:8-9

There’s no way that we can comprehend all that God has in store for us if we’ll simply trust in and rely on Him. Nothing we could imagine could even come close. We’re told so here:

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Cor. 2:9

So, to overcome our deep-seated desire for self-sufficiency, we need to stay in God’s word, paying close attention to any passages that deal with God’s sovereignty, relying solely on Him, and being submissive to His will. 

Doing so will help us get a lot farther along in life on the path God has chosen for us—and also with much less stress.