Putting aside self-sufficiency for good
According to C. Hummel in Tyranny of the Urgent, “The root of all sin is self-sufficiency, independence from the rule of God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying with our actions, if not with our words, that we do not need Him.”
According to 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” The message is clearly, “Be as weak as possible, and I will make known my strength through you.”
We (mankind), were designed to depend. If you go back to the garden, God’s design was that mankind should live his life forever (remember they were not prohibited from the Tree of Life) in fellowship with God. He desired not that man rely on his own wisdom or knowledge of good and evil, but that man would make his decisions based on his close fellowship with God. Several possible explanations for God’s design come to mind:
- It could be that God knew that a moral standard of good and evil, right and wrong, would not be sufficient for us. We, apart from fellowship with God, would choose evil over good. It could be that God, for His sheer delight, desired to impart His wisdom and guidance to us, one by one and day by day. The picture is one of a loving and involved father teaching and guiding a beloved son or daughter.
- It could also be that God knew that we cannot keep very many rules or guidelines on our own without encouragement and reminder.
- It could be He knew that our greatest need is the constant unconditional love of our Father. It is the fuel for our human souls. It is what keeps us healthy and able to move forward.
- It could be that these reasons and purposes are only known to the Almighty. In any event, a life of unbroken fellowship with the Father was God’s first choice for us.
- First, she was not clear on what God had said, so she was easily deceived by the serpent’s misrepresentation of God’s word.
- Second, she was lured into believing the lies of the serpent because of her desire to be independent of God (to be like a god herself).
THE BAD NEWS . . . The root of all independence is that same desire in each of us. The consequence of Eve’s grab for independence was separation from God for herself and her family.
THE GOOD NEWS . . . The cross is the provision for restored fellowship and dependence on God. God has made a way to restore what was lost in the garden. Hallelujah!
Rooted and Grounded 
Thank you for that. How wonderful it is to be stopped in your tracks and be reminded to be depended on God ALL THE TIME. We can easily get caught up with all the stuff we need and desire to get done such as with our family, finances, work, and house. So this was a good time to stop and thank God and let Him take total control.
Amen!