For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
2 Corinthians 1:8-10
Life follows a progression. We begin as babies, depending on parents for everything. As we develop, a growing independence is healthy. In adulthood, peak maturity is a level of responsibility that doesn’t lean on others unless absolutely necessary, such as emergencies. As one arrives at their sunset years, the Lord sometimes causes us to depend on children or aged care providers to varying degrees.
You see the progression from dependence to independence to dependence. What the two ‘book end’ dependence stages of life have in common is usually family, where family members learn to care for those who need help.
We understand that in natural life, peak maturity during our prime years spells I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-C-E. But in the Christian life, self-reliance is a sign of immaturity. The Lord intends for us to be dependent on Him. Living independent of the Lord is the very definition of pride.
Think about it. The leading cause of prayerlessness is self-sufficiency. Prayer is asking God for things we don’t have. Prayer is an expression of neediness. Lukewarm Laodiceans said, ‘I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,’ not knowing that in reality they were ‘wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked’ (Revelation 3:17). This shows that self-dependence is actually self-delusion. When we think we’re OK as we are, without a need in the world, why pray?
It’s the same for those who live defeated lives when the Lord makes victory possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. Trying to live triumphantly on my own steam doesn’t work. It’s self-confidence, and it stinks before God. It says, ‘I can get along without You just fine.’
To cure us of self-dependence, the Lord designs trials tailor-made for each one of us. He wisely knows just what we need, and in what doses. If the pain level increases to the point that we are ‘pressed out of measure, above strength,’ (verse 8), it is purposeful. Even if we despair of life itself and have ‘the sentence of death in ourselves’ (verse 9), there is a very, very good reason.
The phrase ‘pressed out of measure’ refers to being weighed down beyond others. Have you found yourself loaded down with unusual troubles? Maybe it’s a heavy study load, a financial pressure, or an unhealthy relationship that is distressing you. Perhaps you are even asking God, ‘Why?’
Why does God press us out of measure? Verse 9 answers: ‘that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.’
Trials are intended to help me die to self. They kill self-conceit, self-reliance, and independence from God. They bring us to our knees.
But that is good.
It’s just what I need to bring me to peak spiritual maturity, which is a growing dependence on the God in whom ‘we live, and move, and have our being’ (Acts 17:28).
And as verse 9 says, he ‘raiseth the dead.’ Since He can raise the dead, He deserves my trust!
Father, thank You for designing trials in order to show me in a greater way that I need You. Help me not to become irritated and complain about the discomfort of those trials. Help me not to try to squirm out of them in order to find relief. Rather, help me to cooperate with You, the only One who powerfully ‘raiseth the dead.’ I join with David in saying to You, ‘But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God’ (Psalm 40:17).