Are You Helplessly Dependent on the Lord?

Whenever I remember David’s prayer in Psalm 19, my heart is sobered: “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me” (Psalm 19:13 KJV). We must not take the goodness of the Lord for granted or indulge the slightest sense of pride or self-congratulation. And we must never entertain thoughts like, based on my past actions, I have it made, or We can do it ourselves—all we need is some ingenious planning.

Where we have strengths that God can use, let us say honestly to Him, “I acknowledge that I am strong in these areas, but they are gifts from You, and I surrender them to You to use as You see fit.” Nothing we do for the Lord ever comes from our own resources. . . .

Something wonderful happens . . . when we regard ourselves as helplessly dependent on the Lord. In our hearts and attitudes, we must remain as children before Him. If we are enabled to accomplish anything, it is because of the Lord and His grace. The secret of His blessing on any work, large or small, is that all the glory goes to Him.

Serving Our Generation

But we are self-willed individuals who live in flesh-and-blood bodies and strive naturally for personal praise. How can we regard ourselves as helplessly dependent on the Lord and give Him all the glory? Look at Psalm 103:14: “He knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” This verse assures me that the Lord knows the stuff I am made of. The question is, Am I able to remember it? Will I daily recognize that all I am made of is a little handful of dust?

The Lord rescues us repeatedly from our tendency to stop depending on Him and start depending on ourselves. He often keeps us from doing things in our own flesh instead of in His strength. Sometimes, in His mercy, He even causes those things to fail.

Because when all is said and done, when history is sealed up and time runs out, God will make sure that nothing that is a product of the flesh will last for eternity. He has never accepted a work of our flesh and He never will, however good it might look to us. Nothing, not preaching thousands of sermons, not even seeming to turn the world upside-down, will enter eternity if it has been a product of our flesh. Anything lasting for eternity will have been done by Him and Him alone.

We must heed the warning of God to the children of Israel as they were about to pass over the Jordan River into the Promised Land:

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. . . . Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God. . . . You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”

Deuteronomy 8:10, 12–14, 17

We are no different than the children of Israel. Take a look around you at the people and ministries you know God has called to do His heart’s desire. Often flesh gets in the way. People become arrogant and take the glory for themselves. When the Lord uses people for His purposes, He often has to strip away dependence on intelligence, education, abilities, strengths. He has to make them nothing before He can build them back up again for His service.

It is refreshing to see how God carries along a person or ministry that acknowledges dependence on Him. Some things we plan never take place. Other things we never expect may happen in a mighty way. This helps us know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has accomplished these things.

We read this about a great man of God: “When David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep” (Acts 13:36). After doing all the things we know we should do, we have not gained any credit. It is God’s purpose and in His strength that we are serving.

I pray that we will no longer trust our own resources or understanding. Whatever God has called you to do, you can accomplish it when the Lord is doing it and not you. He is looking not for Bible knowledge, impeccable theology, great zeal, missions conferences or computer information networks. He is looking for surrender—men and women at home who are willing to say, “My life no longer belongs to me; I have given it as a sacrifice.” 

How can we be sure we will be able to accomplish the task…? Can we handle the work?…

All I can say is that the Lord is with us. Have you seen how the wind comes and carries off the dry leaves from beneath a tree? That is the best way for me to explain what I mean. Let the wind of God blow you away and carry you wherever He wishes.

And then what? Don’t we need to know more than that?

No. I do not know where the Lord will have you or me go tomorrow or next year. All I know is that I am standing on emptiness and declaring total dependence on the Lord. I am but a handful of dust. I have nothing in myself that I can cling to, no strength of my own to carry me. It is He who leads me, whether that means having everything or having nothing. All that matters is Him.

Excerpted from Living in the Light of Eternity by KP Yohannan. Copyright © 2014 by KP Yohannan. (Carrollton, TX: GFA Books).

Download or order the book Living in the Light of Eternity here.

Click here to hear a message by Dr. KP Yohannan about the grace of God to sustain us to serve Him well in the midst of all.

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