It seems today that there is an overabundance of people that have decided that they don’t need God, and that they can handle the challenges of life without His help. I am ashamed to tell you, that many times I have said this to God. In almost every instance of saying this to God (now, realize … I did not say this out loud, but it was communicated from me to Him), I then fell into my own stupidity and sin. You may be looking down at me for this statement, but let me first explain how it happens.
It is as though I have said this to God by my lack of prayer over very important areas of life. I have said it to God when I read a clear and obvious passage in His Word that convicts my heart, but I choose to do things my way anyway. I have don’t this when God prompted my pastor to preach on a topic that I really needed help with, and I assumed he was preaching for someone else. I have said this to God when He sends a good friend or family member with wise counsel, and I ignore them.
You see, you don’t need to shake your fist at God to have an attitude that tells Him that you don’t need Him for something. The reality is that I need Him for virtually every detail of my life. If I decide not to pray … not to heed Bible principles … not to listen to the preachers/teachers God has put into my life … and to ignore godly counsel, then in reality I am telling God that I don’t need His help. Today I read, “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7). The attitude of telling God that we don’t need Him leads us directly to evil.
If I am “wise in my own eyes” I most certainly am headed to an area where God will allow me to find out that I desperately need Him. When I open my Bible to read; if I am depending on my own wisdom, I will never understand His infinite book. If I am facing a crisis in my family and I don’t run to Him for guidance; I will most certainly do or say things that will hurt and damage the situation far more than help it. If I am about to make a life-changing decision but do not ask for wise counsel; I very possibly could be ignoring some major issues that I know nothing about and I could make some very bad choices.
I have been down this road far too often. I wish I could tell you that I follow this truth all the time. This is the reason I need to read my Bible every day. I need the constant reminders of these basic truths of God. Today let me encourage you to determine to lean on God and not your own wisdom for whatever situations are just in front of you. We need Him!