Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Paradoxal Maturity
There’s a great contrast between being mature as a human being and being a mature Christian.
Our goal as parents is to teach our children to become independent of us.
As a child grows, a mark of maturity should be the ability to depend upon themselves.
The opposite is true for a mature Christian.
The goal is to recognize and act upon our utter dependence upon Jesus Christ to bear fruit in our lives, for He tells us that apart from Him, we can do nothing.
A branch cut off from the vine will not bear fruit.
The branch depends totally upon the vine for its whole life.
I remember well many frustrating years trying to produce fruit on my own.
Oh yes, I would ask God to bless what I was doing, but I wasn’t asking Him what to do and then depending upon Him to work through me to produce His results.
My next maturity step came when I realized more clearly my need to ask for His guidance and help, but at first, I was still trying to get an expected result.
I was close but still frustrated—because things often didn’t turn out how I thought they should.
True maturity resulted when I let go of those expectations and started depending on God’s power and His results.
He is God, and I am not—so I had to learn to trust Him since it was always His will that determined how things turned out.
Remember again the truth from Philippians 2:13—how God works in us for His good pleasure.
Our role is to surrender and to allow Him to do this work and get the results.
How vain it was to think I knew what the outcome should be. I can’t see the end; only He can.
How can you know if you are dependent upon God for fruitfulness?
Lord, how easy it is to be frustrated with life when we try to live it our way in our strength and earthly wisdom. Lead us to the place of freedom...total dependence upon You! Amen