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CHAPTER
2
Oh,
To Be Needy
Unless
you are converted [turned around] and
become as little children, you will by
no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore
whoever humbles himself as
this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew
18:3-4 Our
hope for a Christianity that really works doesn’t lie in our
achievements. Instead it lies in our willingness to recognize our sin,
failure, and inability and to admit our neediness.
The beauty of this is that we all qualify. None of us is left
out! If we can only see it, then we can acknowledge we’re all very
needy. God’s
Principles Are So Different
Now, it’s beginning to become quite clear, I hope, that the
principles of the kingdom of God are opposite from those of this present
evil world. However, we may not yet recognize just how difficult it is
to forsake the ideas of this world for those of the one to come. We
naturally assume, for instance, that success is success, and weakness
and need are the opposite of success. So Paul’s statement in 1
Corinthians 12:10 that when he was weak, then he was strong, seems not
only contradictory, but foolish. Nothing
Else Works!
Few of us feel that our Christianity works as we’d like it to.
Instead we live in a recurring cycle of failure that goes something
like this:
We fail!
We let God down!
We feel guilty!
We run from God!
How does this pattern affect us? We are left in a recurring, or
perhaps even in a continual, state of practical separation from the
Lord. We then find ourselves in a nearly constant cycle of
disappointment, loneliness, hurt, frustration, and anger, which we try
to cover up with a pretense that this pattern isn’t so. In turn, the
denial leaves us feeling we are hypocritical and dishonest with
ourselves, the Lord, and, of course, others.
I know this is not a pretty picture, and perhaps you’d rather
not see it. If in some measure it fits you, let me assure you there’s
something better for you. There isn’t merely hope. There’s more. There’s
love, joy, and deep peace that surpasses human understanding. Best of
all, there is God Himself for you! Daddy
Cares!
The last thing I want to encourage is disrespect for almighty
God. Our God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, perfect, infinite,
eternal, holy, pure, just, good, true, faithful, loving, and kind. He is
the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. He is unchanging. He
is majestic with a glory that human eyes can’t stand to look upon.
Mere words can’t begin to describe His perfection, beauty, and wonder.
We must stand in awe.
But this wondrous Person is my Father, my Papa, my Daddy. Paul
says so in Romans 8:15. It is by His Spirit that we cry, Abba,
Father.
I fear we’ve missed the most significant point of Jesus
teaching about our need to come to God as little children. He said: Unless
you are converted [turned around], and become as little children, you
will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles
himself as this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 18:3-4).
Tell me, what is the one certain thing about children? Surely, it
is that they are dependent on their parents, whether they willingly
recognize it or not.
What do we need to turn from more than anything else? Surely, it
is our desire to be independent, to run our lives without interference
from anyone, including almighty God.
One evening our granddaughter was on her high horse. When she’s
like that, she is headed for trouble. So big four-year-old that she was
at the time, I picked her up, laid her down in my arms, and tried to
cuddle her. It was no use. She wanted no part of it. She wanted her
stubborn, willful independence, so she simply could not accept my love.
Does that remind you of anyone you know? Into
the Waiting Arms
I was on the phone with a lady I had once counseled regularly for
many months. I was offering new counsel. She interrupted me to say, I
remember you telling me to just lay myself down in the arms of God, and
I do it!
Regardless of the circumstances, you need to run to your Father
and throw yourself into His arms of love. Whether you have failed and
want to run away from God, or you are being tempted, or you are
frightened, worried, anxious, or you are just trying to make it on
your own, simply run into the waiting arms of Love that is your hope. The
Curse of Independence
We’ve been taught that life has no value or meaning apart from
freedom. We’ve been taught that this freedom is found only in independence.
We’ve been taught a lie. At least in the spiritual dimension, our only
hope and freedom is in dependence on our Father God.
What gets our children into so much trouble? Surely, it is just
this cursed spirit of independence. Let my child trust me and depend on
me to help, and then I can help. Let him not, and there’s little I can
do for him.
God help us to hate our cursed spirit of independence, our
insistence on trying to do it all ourselves. Paul reminds us in 2
Corinthians 3:5 that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think
of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.
I remember so well one day soon after the Lord began specially
drawing me to Himself. I was turning off the parkway near my office when
I was startled with the awful realization that I really didn’t want to
depend on the Lord. I wanted my independence. This was a shock indeed
for one who had dedicated his life to the Lord thirty-eight years
earlier! Oh,
To Be Needy
Start out simply recognizing you must be made needy enough to run
into the arms of Love. Know that it’s your role to be needy enough to
turn to the Lord in every circumstance. Accept your need to be needy
enough always to depend on Him, not on yourself, for whatever it is
you need, for all you need. Long for the Lord to make you needy enough
to despise the spirit of independence that plagues you. Take the first step forward. Let the Lord do what He must to bring you to the place of being needy enough to need much time alone with Him. He’ll teach you to realize again and again your neediness and to recognize your rebellious spirit of independence that wants not to acknowledge your need. Can
You Believe It?
As I was editing this manuscript, suddenly I felt, Oops, people
aren’t going to like to be needy, dependent, hungry, and humble.
They’ll see no fun in that! It sounds downright awful!
That idea came as a terrible shock to me. Since the Lord has
broken my rebel spirit, some of my sweetest times have been alone with
Him being needy, dependent, hungry, and humbled before Him. That is real
fun, real joy, real happiness. It’s the wonderful beginning of the
delightful Christianity that really works.
Whatever your fears, they aren’t justified. Walking with God in
humble, dependent neediness of spirit is the most excitingly wonderful
thing in the world.
Recall that inspiring thought from the first chapter: you don’t
have to grovel when you see your failure. Rather, let God teach you to
view your failure as your hope. Let Him teach you to see it as a call to
run into the forgiving, loving, caring arms of your Father God. There
receive His love and whatever else you need, including both the
willingness and the capacity to become poor and needy before Him so
that He might become your everything.
Be glad when He uses your failure to show you your neediness and
the folly of your independence. Your self-dependence leads only to
spiritual failure and despair. It is hardly the thing to hold onto.
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