Reliance

In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul talks about some of the recent hardships that he had suffered in Asia. It must have been some sort of persecution involving physical and emotional pain. He says that the suffering was so great that he “despaired even of life” (v.8). He says that his heart “felt the sentence of death.” He then goes on to write something that I had not remembered, but something that hit home with me. He writes in verse 9, “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God.”

It is only human nature to rely too much on ourselves. We think we can handle it. We can take it. We can do anything we put our mind too. We can become anything we want to be. All of these phrases, which we have all heard, put too much reliance on our own abilities. Paul says in this passage that suffering, failure, pain, and trial have happened in his life to remind him that he is unable to do things without God. Without dependence on God, we are unable to be a success in life.

Some of the greatest failures in my life happened because I put too much reliance on myself and not on God. In other places the Bible calls this self-reliance— “pride.” Pride does come before the fall. God many times brings about the “falling” in our lives to teach us that we are to rely on him and not ourselves. It is easy to rely too much on ourselves when things are going well. During times of sickness, despair, loss, and heartache God lovingly and painfully teaches us to rely on Him. The important thing is that we learn from the lessons that God teaches us. May God help us as we continue to grow in our reliance on Him!