When I first started out in ministry, I was working with students. I loved student ministry and the many fun aspects of it. I enjoyed everything from buying lots of pizza and planning fun events to teaching God’s Word and helping students grow in a personal relationship with Jesus. It wasn’t until a few years into being a student pastor that I began to really see the need for parents to be involved in this ministry. Student ministry isn’t done in a silo; it’s a partnership between parents and the Church to love on students and point them to Jesus.
The big truth I realized was that the amount of time I spent with students in my ministry was basically nothing compared to the amount of time students spent with their families. That time students spend with their family makes a big impact on who they are, what type of person they become, and what type of things they will prioritize in life. Parents generally don’t realize how important they are to the children, and students don’t realize how dependent they are on their parents. That dependence has a huge impact.
Do you have someone in your life that you’re dependent on? Do you have someone in your life who is dependent on you? Fast forward to 2023, my wife and I have become foster parents. We have only been married for two years and in the summer of 2023 we added two children under the age of two to our home. In this short amount of time, I have come to understand a new appreciation for the word dependence. There are few clearer images for that word than young children. They need you to do everything for them, except cry… crying they can do just fine on their own. Before this summer, I had never held a child or changed a diaper, and honestly, I was a little afraid to do both. That fear evaporated very quickly. Why? Because I HAD to do those things to care for the child. They can’t do anything for themselves. If you don’t clothe them, feed them, or bathe them they’ll just stay naked, hungry, and dirty all the time. Do you know what is the most shocking part of it all? I love it. Even when it is tough, I love it because I love those kids and I want what’s best for them. So their dependence on me doesn’t bother me at all; it makes me want to be a better person for them.
For some people, the word dependence might be an uncomfortable word. Maybe a person they depended on wasn’t trustworthy, or they think of themselves as a very independent person. In today’s culture, we are often told, “You don’t need anything or anyone else but yourself,” or “Just do you.” But the Christian message is very different. When we turn to the pages of Scripture and read Jesus’ words, He says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing,” (John 15:5) or James when he says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,” (James 1:17). So you see, dependence is actually a very beautiful thing.
The Bible consistently pushes its readers to recognize their dependence on God.
Why?
The simple answer is that He is the source of all life and the Creator of all things, so it would make sense that He is someone we should cling to. The more thorough answer is that God is worthy of your trust and asks that you give Him every aspect of your life to find that He is faithful. However, this requires something of us. It requires that we admit that we do not have all the answers. It requires humility.
Proverbs 3:5-8 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know Him, and He will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.”
You see, God asks you to trust Him with your life. He’s asking you to be dependent on Him because He is someone that you can trust. So, when it comes to God, learning to depend on Him is not entrapping you but rather setting you free. Proverbs tells us that God will provide healing and strengthening. If that is the case, we don’t have to worry about questions like:
Is God trustworthy?
Will God come through?
Will God provide?
Does God care?
Instead, like a child who runs to their parent with arms up and shouts for joy, so we are invited to run to our Heavenly Father and feel His warm embrace.
It is for this reason that Jesus went to the cross, died, and rose again – to make a way for us to have a relationship with God as our Father. This is the good news of the Christian message. Jesus has finished everything we need to have a relationship with God. You can enter that relationship today! It doesn’t matter what you have in your past or in your present. Humble yourself and tell God how much you need Him. Then turn away from your sin and trust all that Jesus did to help you know God as your Heavenly Father.
If you have put your faith in Jesus and follow Him as the Lord and Savior of your life, you still might have a tendency to live independently from Him. Let me encourage you: be like a child. Depend on your Heavenly Father for everything. Trust Him to be good. You might have questions that aren’t easily answered or wounds on your heart from difficult seasons of life. You can trust the one who was willing to die for your sins. He will walk every step with you, so live every day with dependence and trust in Him.
-by Andrew Head
Associate Pastor, Rich Pond Baptist Church
