Let's Be Needy

Needy. That's a dirty word if I've ever heard one. I've spent my entire life trying to avoid that word. I've never been the type to rely on others. Why would I, if they're just going to let me down? Plus I'm impatient enough that I'd rather just get stuff done instead of waiting for someone else to do it. What I didn't realize until recently, was how intensely that habit of distrust affected my relationship with God. I've spent so long doing things on my own that I don't want to let God do things. I don't want to have to rely on him, wait for His timing, or trust that he would come through.

But God likes it when we're a little bit needy. Because being needy means that we can't do everything on our own. Hebrews 10:38 tells us that the righteous should live by faith. That's it, isn't it? God is pleased when we are in positions that make us need Him. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying He wants bad things to happen to us so that we'll turn to Him. I'm saying that He wants us to believe the impossible and find ourselves in situations where the things we need to accomplish are so big that we have no choice but to trust in His plan and give Him the glory.

My mind immediately goes to the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was in just such a position. An angel of God came to her and began telling her about the most impossible situation. She is going to have a baby, a boy who will change the world! Now, scientifically speaking, pregnancy is a miracle - even when there are two people involved. But if you take away one of those people and say the baby will be the Son of God and suddenly a situation that was improbable at best has now become overwhelmingly impossible.

I'm sure, as she was listening to the angel, Mary felt so many different things: fear, inadequacy, confusion, wonder, excitement... the list goes on. If it were me in that moment, I would've had an intense feeling of inadequacy, "who am I to be in this position?" That would've soon been followed by a feeling of fear, "what if God doesn't come through?"

But the angel didn't stop there. He followed the announcement of that impossible situation by saying "No word from God will ever fail" (Luke 1:37).

Mary takes this in... no word from God will ever fail...

Her response is so beautiful. She simply says, "I'm your servant, let it be done as you say" (Luke 1:38). As she is faced with the most ludicrous idea she has ever heard, she chooses to respond in trust, dependence, and faith. She could have responded by saying, "Why would you choose me? I'm just going to mess up your plan!" or "Umm... who do you think you are? That is never going to happen!" But she didn't. She chose to believe.

After that moment, she didn't have to go out and try to get pregnant. She didn't even go around telling everyone what God had promised her! She simply had to go on with her life and believe that God would do what He said. The same goes for us in whatever impossible situations we may be facing right now. We don't have to spend time trying to make things happen. We just need to tell God that we trust that His promises will not fail and that we are willing to be used by Him.

Let it be done as He says.

And maybe it takes us a while to believe that. Who knows how many times Mary had to say that to herself after the angel left. I'm sure it wasn't simply a one time thing and then she had all the faith in the world. But if we continue to tell God that His promises won't fail and that we want to be used by Him, eventually we'll believe that too.

So, I've realized that I want to be a little bit needy. I don't want to always figure things out for myself. I want to remember the words "No word from God will ever fail" and say to God, "I am your servant, let it be done as you say."