Jesus talked many times while He was on this earth about our closeness to Him . . . our reliance on Him. But how does that play out in our real, rubber meets the road lives?! On one hand, we know that Jesus is perfect and we are anything but. So does that mean that we should not make a move in our lives without consulting Him and waiting on his direction and guidance?
We have been given free will after all! Does that mean that we go through life making all of our own decisions without ANY input from God . . . except of course when we run into trouble and start our negotiations with God for not consulting Him more. This approach can easily take us to the place of having the illusion of self-sufficiency . . . not having a need for God.
This issue is a fine line for all Christians to walk. We can’t live our lives paralyzed waiting on instructions from God for our every action, yet, we have to have a certain reliance on Him. After all, He IS the creator of the universe . . . He knows better than anyone else how it is that our existence works!
After praying and studying on this, I am of the current thought that it boils down to each of our own personal relationships with God. He knows the right mix of independence vs. dependence each of our own personality requires to best serve Him . . . and when we are in harmony with His will for us . . . that is where we find purpose, peace and confidence.
Weigh in on this. What do you think? What is your experience? Please share!
Thanks for reading!
Our Walk of Faith 
[…] OUR FREE WILL vs. DEPENDANCE. […]
I believe God had designed us to be decision makers – once we have made the most important decision to follow Him, our free will should be exercised within the boundaries of His will as revealed by His word, and by His Spirit working within us.
Thank you for your comment. Very well put!
If my heart is right, then God makes my decisions right. They become miracles. Life is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time I take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that I can establish the curriculum. It means only that I can elect what I want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is my natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. The course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:
Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.
Steve, thanks for your comment . . . it adds a whole added dimension to my posting. I started to ask where you get this stuff . . . but I know!