Dependence

A full reliance on God must be one of the most difficult states to attain in this lifetime. Someone like Brother Lawerence who was able to attain the presence of God on a "normal" and regular basis is incredible enough - this is a discipline that I long to attain to. However, reliance on God - full dependence on Him - is a step even further. In modern North American society, we have so completely learned to rely on ourselves that I'm not sure to what extent we can ever really learn to rely on God. We may recognize intellectually that it's not about our strength or ability and only about God's, but in reality, when it comes right down to it, we rely on at least a modicum of our own ability - we don't know any other way.

And how can we? In a society that glorifies individual strength - in an economy that allows us to make all that we need (or even more, all that we're able) - in a marketplace that values each of our abilities to input into the machine of industry - how could it be any different? From the time we are little children, we are told about our abilities and our value in society, and we are rewarded for waht we can do as individuals. It is nearly impossible to learn to rely on each other or on the community around us - to work together as a team - let alone to rely on the power of God to work. Even within team sports - what should be the ultimate expression of team - it's individuals that get all of the press and all of the fame and fortune. Home run hitters, one on one isolation plays, power running backs - these take the place of the efficient infield, the three or four bounce passes to the open shot, or the "no-name defense". Even within the church, someone like Ted Haggard can exist in such a vacuum that no one knows about a dark and painful area of his life until the truth is painfully exposed... The tragedy of this situation is not the sin itself - this just exposes the darkness of each of our hearts. The tragedy is that the world around him - those who interact with him, minister to him, even live with him - had no idea. No wonder we can't learn to rely on God.

And yet, God longs to do more than we could possibly do on our own. The work of God through a servant completely yielded to Him would be an incredible sight to behold. And yet, we are so impressed with the work of man and all that we can create that we never get to see the incredible work of Jesus - we're too busy doing our own thing, in our own ability. Oh Lord, would you break through!

Breakin' Into the 21st Century

I decided to join my friend Mike Mazzye in becoming a bit more relevant by publishing a blog...

Not sure exactly what will show up here - musings, comments on anything (I'm known to have one or two opinions on things), and information on what's happening in my life and the life of the Kannel family. In all, a bunch of drivel - which I suppose everyone out there in cyberspace is welcome to eavesdrop on!