As girls, we're taught that we should strive to be strong, independent women throughout high school, college, and beyond, until we get married. We think we should be able to conquer things on our own and take care of ourselves without any help, even to the point that we don't like for someone to do something for us because we feel belittled. Well, newsflash: being dependent is okay!
Now don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I'm not endorsing that you should live in your parent's basement, not have a job, and be completely dependent on them until you are 40 years old. Please don't tell them I told you to do that. However, what I am saying is this: we have to be dependent on God.
We cannot do it all on our own, so why do we keep trying to? We're raised to believe that we are capable of anything we put our minds to and we can do it on our own. While this can be good advice to get someone to step out of their comfort zone and try whatever they put their mind to, it can be taken the wrong way. We should depend on God to be our source of strength so that we can conquer whatever it is that we are attempting. We have to stop filling our minds with the thoughts that we can do it, whatever "it" may be, on our own.
If the purpose of living is for God's glory, and we don't ask Him to help us in our everyday life, what's the point? We have to be dependent on God. That requires more than just saying we're dependent on Him. That means we must pray daily and ask Him to guide us and give us the words to say and the strength we need to face each new day. We need to surrender the little things in life and be dependent on Him.
As I've tried to face this week back to school, build and maintain relationships with people, and delegate multiple tasks, I've felt rather overwhelmed quite honestly. I was trying to do it all on my own. I felt drained physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually because it took all I had in me to survive. I wasn't thriving because it was too much for me to handle on my own. I finally came to the realization that I simply could not do it on my own anymore and needed to surrender and be more dependent on God. He wants to help us with our burdens, y'all. He's waiting for us to take it to Him with open arms. Even when we feel like we can handle whatever is going on and the burden is not too great to bear, we should still give it to God. It's a habit that we have to get used to.
"Give your burdens to the LORD, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." -Psalm 55:22 NLT
No matter how small we think the burden might be, we should give it to the Lord. He cares for us deeply and wants to help us. Being independent is not all that it's cracked up to be. We need to be dependent on God again.