The Plumbline

God, you give true peace to people who depend on you, to those who trust in you. So trust the Lord always, because in the Lord you have a place of safety forever. Honesty is the path good people follow. They follow the path that is straight and true. And God, you make that way smooth and easy to follow. At night my soul longs to be with you, and the spirit in me wants to be with you at the dawn of every new day. (Isaiah 26:3-4, 7, 9) Some of us might equate dependence to some 'bad' way of living in which we cannot do or think anything on our own. Dependence requires more thought and determination than you might first imagine. What some consider to be dependence is nothing more than passive complacency and apathy. What God considers to be dependence is actually a place of active submission and obedience. Obedience requires forethought and continuous thought - passive complacency does not. Obedience requires trust and truth - passive complacency is satisfied with the stat

Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. (Luke 11:13) Do you bargain with God? You know what I mean - those little prayers where you promise to do something if God does something you need him to do. It is never wrong to ask God to intervene when we need help, but have you ever stopped to consider if the 'mess' you need help in might have been avoided if you'd have spent a little more time 'up front' asking God if this was the direction you were to take in the first place? I know I am guilty of plunging ahead and then stepping back at some point wondering how on earth I "missed God" along the way! The truth is that I didn't miss him - he wasn't there to be found! It was a path he had advised me to not take in the first place - so when I took it, it was like he was just standing there waiting for me to realize I needed to turn around! That is how I get into those 'bargaini