Somewhere along the way, we were taught that independence is the goal:
Be strong. Be courageous.
Handle it yourself.
Don\u2019t ask for help. You can do it.
Don\u2019t cry. Don’t whine.
Don\u2019t need. Be independent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if we\u2019re honest, many of us wear independence like a badge of honor — even when it\u2019s quietly breaking our backs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We say, \u201cI\u2019ve got it.\u201d
But our tired eyes tell a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God never designed us to live like self-powered machines. He created us to be people who breathe — who rest — who receive — who depend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world applauds independence.
But Heaven celebrates dependence — on our Burden Bearer, our Strong Tower, our Rock in the time of storms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus never said, \u201cCome to Me, all you who have it all together.\u201d
No\u2026 He said:
\u201cCome to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\u201d (Matthew 11:28)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s not a command for the strong.
That\u2019s an invitation for the weary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a difference between healthy independence and stubborn self-reliance. Independence says, \u201cI can do my part.\u201d
But prideful self-reliance says, \u201cI don\u2019t need anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s where we get into trouble.
Because even the strongest among us have moments when the bills pile up, the phone won\u2019t stop ringing, the doctor gives us a scary report, or loneliness settles in like fog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when God whispers, \u201cLet Me carry what you were never meant to hold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dependence isn\u2019t weakness. Dependence is wisdom.
It takes courage to pray when we don\u2019t have answers.
It takes humility to ask for help.
It takes faith to admit we\u2019re not enough and believe God is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yes — let’s be responsible — wise — deligent.
But, for goodness sake — let’s not try to be our own Savior!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the truth is this:
Independence may build confidence — but dependence on God builds peace — calm — rest — comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And all those sweet words are what our souls have been craving all along. And doesn’t that give us assurance that THE ONE Who rested during the storm gives us the invitation to rest and be at peace like Him, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#dependence #independence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Somewhere along the way, we were taught that independence is the goal:Be strong. Be courageous.Handle it yourself.Don\u2019t ask for help. You can do it.Don\u2019t cry. Don’t whine.Don\u2019t need. Be independent. And if we\u2019re honest, many of us wear independence like a badge of honor — even when it\u2019s quietly breaking our backs. We say, \u201cI\u2019ve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1210,4154,700,12056,17916,3731,1392,9197,2608,40,572,30096,2999],"class_list":["post-23816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blog","tag-breathe","tag-come-to-me","tag-courageous","tag-depend","tag-dependence","tag-facebook","tag-i-will-give-you-rest","tag-independence","tag-inspiration","tag-invitation","tag-receive","tag-rest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23821,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23816\/revisions\/23821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}