Radical Reliance

My mother-in-law subscribes to "Our Daily Bread" from Radio Bible Class Ministries, and as a donor, she also receives complimentary books from their publishing house, Discovery House Publishers. Sometimes when I go to her house, I spot a book on her bookshelf that looks interesting, and often it's one of these books. I appreciate the fact that they're usually fairly short books which are manageable to get through in a short amount of time. They also seem to serve as great devotional material. My latest discovery was a book by Joseph M. Stowell (former president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago), called Radical Relaince: Living 24/7 with God at the Center.

The book gently follows the path of the prodigal son, taking us on a path of alienation back to a place of forgiveness and intimacy with God. I found I could relate with many of the themes of the book.

The book starts off talking about the fundamental sense of aloneness that haunts many of us. Stowell defines aloneness as a state where we are "functionally disconnected at the core of our being from all that truly satisfies, sustains, and secures." He discusses how we can sometimes lead lives of "quiet desperation", trying to find satisfaction, sustenance, and security in things other than God. In the Garden of Eden, God was a personal friend; God guided us and protected us; we had trusted relationships with other people, through whom God provided us with satisfaction and sustenance; and the material world was a provision from God and not a replacement. But after the fall, we started to look to ourselves and to other people for our sense of satisfaction instead of looking to God; we started to see material wealth as a way of providing security and sustenance; and a lack of trust in others sparked suspicion and cynicism.  Ultimately, the hopelessness of alienation from God started to take over.

When this happens, we start to find ourselves in a slow drift away from God, much like a man who fell asleep in his raft on the ocean and woke up to find himself far from shore. We don't always know how we got here, but it can take a lot of work to get back to shore. When we lose intimacy with God, sometimes it's hard to even know how to find it again when we've been gone so long. We begin to doubt God's goodness; believe that we need something other than God to meet our needs; place our relationships with people above our relationship with God; make God into our own image; resist his corrections and ultimately walk away from any reminder of him.

Once we realize that we are in a "far country", like the prodigal son, it's time to repent. We need to take a clear assessment of ourselves and figure out what it is that we've been doing that's been keeping us away from God. Repentance isn't a one-time act; it's a condition of the heart that has turned back towards God and is seeking to continually repent and aim towards righteousness. We need to be open to God's correct in our lives and strive for a new life of purity. Ultimately, we must become keenly aware of our total dependence on God for our sustenance, satisfaction, and security.

Once we are turned toward God, there are personal practices, such as prayer and Bible study, that can keep our heart grounded in Him. When we feel like we are finally connecting with God, we still face real life issues. We must practice "intimacy in the trenches", i.e. seek a sense of closeness with God even life seems out of control. As Stowell says, "It's easier to blame Him than to trust Him when life goes bad." This is the kind of thinking we need to correct when things go south. In fact, we need to start believing that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble." When we can hang on to the fact that God cares about us and wants to protect us, not harm us, we find comfort in His ongoing presence with us. God may not always give us an explanation, but everything He accomplishes in our lives, even the pain, will ultimately be for His glory. These are the truths we must hold on to. We must praise God even in the midst of difficulties. When we can draw near to God, we will not feel that drastic sense of aloneness, but will feel connected to the One who can truly satisfy, sustain, and protect us. Amen!