Because I Am Needy

Every afternoon, as I work to get Talitha settled down for a nap, there is inevitably at least one (maybe two or even three) trips to the bathroom because she supposedly "has to go to the bathroom." More often than not, this seems to be an excuse to get out of bed and delay going to sleep rather than an urgent need to answer nature's call...The more of a routine that it becomes, the more wearisome it feels. I often find myself on the verge of frustration. Who would have thought that something as natural as potty-training could produce so many frustrating parenting moments? 

And yet, as we went through the routine yet again today and I could feel the frustration building, I was reminded of the reality that I cannot do this parenting thing by myself; I am needy.  Oh, so needy for His sustaining strength in so many areas of my life. Parenting is merely one area.  

In contrast to my extreme neediness, God is not needy. In fact, He is self-sufficient: not only does all power lie within His grasp; He is the source of all power. It all comes from Him. 

Acts 17:24-25 tells us, "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (ESV).

He is the Creator, the Lord of heaven and earth. 

He is unrestrained by physical limits. 

He is our source of life and every breath that we take.  

I love how the author of Acts doesn't leave it up to his audience to come to a conclusion. Rather, the author makes is plain that God doesn't need anything from us, for he mentions (in an almost off-handed remark) that God is not "served by human hands, as though he needed anything" (17:25). Indeed, without us, God remains exactly who He has always been: God Almighty, Creator, Lord of the universe. He needs absolutely nothing from us.

And yet without God, we are but dust. 

When God made Adam, He breathed the breath of life into the form that had been fashioned from the dust of the earth; it was with that breath from the self-sufficient God that "man became a living creature" (Gen. 2:7). 

After the fall, God declared to Adam that he would have to work until the day he returned to the ground, "for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen. 3:19). 

One day, each one of us will experience the reality of these words declared to the first man: one day, each one of us will fail to take another breath of life and our body will return to dust. Without the self-sufficient God giving us our every breath, we return to dust. We are utterly and entirely dependent on God for our very life, right this very minute. Even as I write this, I am dependent on the self-sufficient God to provide my next breath so that I can finish out these thoughts on His self-sufficiency. 

Colossians 1:15-17 expands on this idea that we are entirely dependent upon Him for everything: 

    "He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." 

We see Christ here as the Creator and the Sustainer of all things. All of creation is held together by Him. All of creation needs Him, the self-sufficient One.  

This idea that all of creation is dependent on God is not a bad thing. As Jen Wilkin points out in None Like Him, "In pre-fall Eden, Adam and Eve were created to need. Even before the fateful plucking of the forbidden fruit, they depended on God for the breath in their lungs, for the food in their bellies, for water, land, and light. They had needs, both physical and spiritual, before sin ever slithered into the picture" (pg. 62, emphasis mine). 

However, viewing neediness as a good thing is oh, so contrary to our natural tendency, for we tend to do everything possible to cover up the fact that we don't have it all together, that we can't do it on our own. We tend to equate this lack of inner-strength with weakness and vulnerability. So we cover up our needs and put on a brave front. 

But think about it: if Adam and Eve were created to need, then being needy and not self-sufficient must be a good thing, for God declared everything good. As Wilkin further points out, God has designed us to need Him, as well as each other, especially those who are a part of the Body of Christ, the Church (pg. 63).

And so I am thankful that God uses these seemingly insignificant parenting moments to remind me of my neediness--my need for Him, my need for those around me, and even my need to recognize that I am needy.