Self-Sufficient

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.  Abraham Lincoln

Have you ever thought about what it means to be self-sufficient?  The dictionary states that self-sufficiency is needing no outside help in satisfying one’s basic needs or to be emotionally and intellectually independent.  So if we were to break these words apart and look at the definition of each of them it makes an interesting point.

Self means a person’s nature or character.  Sufficient means enough. One of the best examples of not being self-sufficient is in 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul talks about the thorn in his flesh.  We don’t know exactly what Paul’s issue was; what we do know is that Satan caused it.  It was something Paul asked God to remove from him multiple times. 

Have you ever looked at your own troubles in life and considered that they are a reminder to each of us that we are not self-sufficient?  God didn’t create us to be self-sufficient.  If we depend on ourselves for everything we think we need; we will fall short.  God’s purpose for us is that we will lean on Him for everything.  Not sometimes, every once in a while or once a year; not when times aren’t good or we are in trouble, but always.  If the Bible says God’s grace is sufficient we should believe it. 

My husband and I have an acquaintance who owned a business and later sold it for a large sum of money.  The one thing I remember him saying was that all it would take would be one illness or tragedy in his life for it all to be gone.

Job was one of the best examples of someone losing it all.  Satan was allowed by God to take it all away.  Job learned that God’s grace was sufficient and he was later blessed by God with more than he ever dreamed. When we learn that God’s grace is sufficient, we will understand that we aren’t self-sufficient and never will be.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, Your grace is sufficient.  Through every troubled time in my life; You continue to show me that all I need is You. When Satan tempts me and trials come my way, help me to lean on and depend on You.  Everything I will ever need comes from You. Remind me daily that I am not self-sufficient and that You are enough. 

      

Scripture: The Thorn in the Flesh

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:7-10