Ditch Self-Reliance: Embracing Divine Rescue in Life’s Toughest Moments

Devotional Guest Post: Katherine Brey

Nehemiah 4-5, 2 Corinthians 1, Proverbs 9

Have you ever heard the term “telling it like it is’ ‘? Reading all of Paul’s letters, this term would describe his writing. There is no sugar-coating the Christian journey, and Paul offered first-hand accounts of the difficulties of answering Christ’s call. Of course, he highlights the joys of walking with Christ. However, name a trial, and this New Testament apostle and his comrades suffered a number of them. 

The introduction of 2 Corinthians 1 is Paul detailing the monumental trouble they endured: 

v 8-We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters,[b] about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. (NLT)

With rawness and honesty, Paul shares his life with the church of Corinth. He doesn’t hold back; there are no pleasantries, just full emotion as he recounts the ordeal. How many of us can relate? Perhaps not to his exact experience, but we can recall moments where we felt crushed and overwhelmed. The revelatory weight Paul pens about offers us the reader a connection. That’s what makes the following verses so profound- 

  9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. (NLT)

While reading these verses, my eyes immediately fixed on “stopped” and “learned” in verse 9. Paul unashamedly reveals a weakness here. It is possible that relying on himself was a habit he learned from the old days when he was in hot pursuit of Christ-followers. To some, self-reliance shouldn’t be considered a liability but more of an asset. In Christ, self-reliance will always find you lacking. Our society promotes it through every avenue. The opposite of self-reliance in worldly terms, is to be found needy or weak. 

Paul provides the solution in the same verse where he indicates he learned to rely on God. Meaning for most, reliance on God doesn’t come naturally. It is a faith muscle we must exercise daily. Letting go of the reins, especially when times are tough when the impulse to control and navigate life’s landmines is at an all-time high. That is precisely when God expects us to trust Him. Although we are to trust always, there is something so profound about relying on God when one is at their weakest. The sweetness of God’s presence when we are most vulnerable, crushed, and overwhelmed is palpable. 

At the age of 9, my parents sensed it was time I knew how to swim. Why they felt that compulsion is beyond me, considering I lived in the concrete jungle of New York with no body of water super close to me. Nonetheless, while on a getaway, my dad decided to throw my brother and me into the deep end with the instructions that once our feet hit the bottom, we should push up. The problem was my feet never hit the bottom, and with no further instruction, I was drowning. There was no sink or swim; in my case, I was sinking. After what felt like an eternity of relying on what little swimming knowledge I possessed, a hand reached in and rescued me. At that moment, my confidence was entirely in the person attached to the hand. My rescuer, my lifeline, scooped my exhausted body out of the water, gasping for breath with the utmost gratitude. The hero that swept in and saved the day was my mom. She assessed the situation and knew I didn’t have all the information or training I needed to escape a potentially dangerous matter. 

We can say that’s how God is. He knows the situation; He has assessed the matter. He has seen all the angles in His omniscience, ready to help as only a loving father does. Sometimes, we are so busy relying on ourselves and fighting the hand that wants to rescue us that we can’t see we are slowly sinking. 

Returning to today’s devotional text, we see Paul’s proper response in verse 10 when he states how he learned to stop relying on himself. His answer was to place his confidence in God. There are no pretenses in his reply other than to say the only way out of self-reliance is to have confidence that God is still in the rescuing business. 

I leave you with this: if Paul, a heavy-hitter for the gospel, found himself needing to stop relying on himself and learn to rely on God, can you have an honest conversation with yourself about what areas of my heart I have been self-reliant in? 

Deepening Faith: Reflective Journal Prompts

1. Reflect on a time when you were “crushed and overwhelmed beyond your ability to endure,” similar to Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians 1. How did this challenge affect your reliance on God, and what did you learn about His ability to rescue you?
2. Consider the habits or aspects of self-reliance in your life that may hinder your relationship with God. What steps can you take to begin relying more fully on Him, especially in difficult times?
3. Paul speaks of learning to rely on God who “raises the dead” and “rescues us from mortal danger.” Reflect on the power of God as depicted in these verses. How does this understanding of God’s power influence your trust and faith in Him during trials?
4. Share a moment when you felt like you were “sinking” and needed rescue, similar to Katherine Brey’s swimming experience. How did God or someone acting in God’s love become your rescuer, and what did that teach you about faith and reliance on God?
5. Paul had to unlearn self-reliance to fully embrace dependence on God. Identify an area of your life where you need to unlearn self-reliance. Write about how you plan to shift from self-reliance to God-reliance in this area.

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