Learning to Lean on God

There are many people that are dutiful to their religions and attend services each week, but still don’t have a personal relationship with God. Many of us have grown up around individuals like this. They put forth tremendous effort, but for whatever reason, they never make an intimate connection with our Creator, and this intimate connection is what He desires. Imagine a marriage that is being lived out this way. The spouses each do what they are expected to do in the marriage, but there is never any intimacy. They relate to each other only out of obligation and duty, but not out of a sense of deep adoration and joy. Because of this, they never grow deep roots of love in their union, and never learn to lean on each other in a way that inspires their gratitude for one another.

Colossians 3:12(NLT) says, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” 1Peter 1:15(NLT) tells us, “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.” And Ephesians 1:4(NLT) tells us, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” The common denominator in these extraordinary truths is that God makes it plain that we didn’t choose Him first, He chose us first. Ephesians 1:11 tells us that He chose us long before we entered our mother’s wombs. Even before He founded the world, He knew we would exist, and He purposely created everything in such a way that we would live during this exact time. Nothing about our existence is a mistake. We are here for His purpose, and His purpose alone.

God chose us to be His sons and daughters. Psalm 100:3-5(NLT) tells us, “3Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” God is worthy of our highest praise. He is our Father, and He wants us to lean on Him for everything. Verse 3 tells us to acknowledge who He is. He’s the One True God, a God that cannot fail and who always keeps His Word. How can we not enter into His gates with thanksgiving? Who wouldn’t joyfully lift praises, glory, and honor to a Father that has everything, needs nothing, and delights in sharing with His kids?

He created us in order to love us, to make us a part of His family, and to give us the Kingdom. The Apostle Paul said in 1Thessalonians 2:12(NLT), “We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.” This verse paints a beautiful picture of God’s desire to share His Kingdom with us. Jesus Christ said in Luke 12:32(NLT), “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.” We do not have to fear or be anxious about anything, because our Heavenly Father is our everything. He’s our refuge and protection, and He delights in blessing us, His family.

Jesus Christ taught us in John 4:24 that Heavenly Father is a Spirit, and no one has seen Him. Some people do not believe in what they cannot see, and therefore, they do not have faith. As God’s children, we are commanded in 2Corinthians 5:7 to walk by faith and not by sight. Earth is good grooming ground for our faith because the experiences here teach us not to lean on our own understanding, but to depend on God. We do not see the big picture. We can’t see what He sees, and we don’t know what He knows. His commandment to us in Proverbs 3:5 is to trust in Him with all our hearts. He tells us in Proverbs 3:6(NLT), “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” To seek God is to go to Him with an honor and reverence for who He is. It’s to humble ourselves to the reality of His power and love that has been poured out on us through His Son Jesus Christ. He is the only One that can direct our paths, and He will do as His Word says. He will show us the path that He has laid out for our lives.

God is not far from us. Philippians 2:13(NLT) tells us, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”  God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, lives inside us. He is helping us to become all that God desires us to be. Heavenly Father doesn’t want us walking around filled with anxiety about problems. He tells us in Philippians 4:6 that we must not worry about anything, instead, we are to pray to Him about anything and everything that is on our hearts. He instructs us to tell Him what we need, because He will take care of everything. We must have faith in Him, because He tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that we can’t please Him without it. Having faith in Him, means that we will lean on God to fix our situations, even though things look impossible. We shouldn’t sink in our emotions because of how things appear, we must lean on God. We must thank Him for all He’s done, and thank Him for what He is going to do, because He works everything out for our good according to His perfect Will and Plan.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Learning to Lean on God”, written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.