“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

Today’s photo is a mule who lives at the stable where I keep my horse, Bear. The other day she just stood there and stared at me for quite some time, looking like she expected me to do something for her. This devotional is going to be a little off the beaten path because what inspired me was a line from a devotional post a friend of mine had put up this morning on Facebook. It said, “You have realized that needing Me is the key to knowing Me intimately, which is the gift above all gifts.”

Immediately I thought of the times that I have stubbornly stood like that mule and stared at God, wondering when He was going to fix my problem.

Standing some distance away, I get angry with Him and I yell at Him, and I decide to show Him that I can do it myself. And I’m sure He just watches me do it and chuckles.

But depending on the size of the problem, eventually I find myself on my face in my living room asking God to fix it for me because I can’t, telling Him how much I need Him.

Loving God is a process of getting closer to Him every day, so that one day we look like Him and act like Him. What I am finding in this time in my life is how desperately I need Him ALL THE TIME. In the moments when I’m willing to admit that to Him, that’s when I’m the closest to Him. Our goals should really be to live in that space where the understanding is that He’s the only answer to everything.

The vulnerability of knowing how much you need God is similar to that of a child reaching out for dad’s hand in a crowd. He becomes your comfort, your guide, your friend and protector. You know you’ll be able to navigate through all the noise and chaos because you have a hold of Him, and because He loves you.

So often though, instead of that safety and warmth and comfort, we choose to stand over there like a mule telling God everything is His fault and that we’re not going to budge.

Learn to be OK with needing God, and you’d be amazed to see how He blesses that vulnerability. Throughout the scriptures He talks about the importance of humility, and admitting a complete reliance on Him is the first step.

Fruit can’t grow on a branch that isn’t taking sustenance constantly from its tree.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 5:39