Recently, in the midst of a group of Christians, after I had spoke about some of the things I have to do each day, a fellow Christian turned to me and told me I was needy.
Now, I knew then as well as now, that she was trying to be humorous in her fashion, which she tells everyone is simply snarky. To me, though, snarky means a way of covering for saying things that are purposefully mean-spirited and hurtful.
The thing is, when she said it to me, I responded back seriously and sadly and said, “Yes, I am. I am so needy and I don’t like it. I’ve never been the needy one before. I’ve always been the one to give help and not the one to need help.”
I was sad and unhappy about it and all those in the group could see that. Not that she had mentioned it but that it was actually true.
However, for a few days afterward, I let her words sting me. I try hard not to show my dependence but in that type of group, I let my guard down and let my friends see the side of me that I don’t show too often.
Then, as it always does when she has said her snarky things to me, I let it go and reminded myself that she is the way she is because she is hurting so much herself. She hides behind her style of humor without realizing that in her effort to mask what she is feeling, she is hurting others needlessly.
So, as I said, I had stopped thinking about it until about a week ago. I was in the midst of reading the Bible about an unrelated subject and, suddenly, I was thinking about what it means to be needy.
Before I became a Christian, I never considered myself as needing anyone at all. It was when I came to the end of my own efforts and my life was crumbling, that I turned to Jesus and admitted I could not save myself. I needed him to do it.
Which he did.
But then, I started forgetting about how much I needed him every day. I started relying again on my own efforts. I took way too much pride in how much I could accomplish and how much I could help others. It wasn’t very often, if ever, that I recognized that God was doing these things through me.
I didn’t think about it at the time but a few days ago, I did start thinking about it. Those thoughts of self-reliance, were really thoughts of pride. Pride of that nature is sinful.
It is, once again, man trying to reach to the heavens and become their own God. Who needs God when you can do so much on your own? After all, doesn’t the Bible tell us that God helps those who help themselves?
Actually, it doesn’t. That isn’t at all from the Bible. It is based on ancient Greek mythology. It wasn’t speaking for or about the God who created the heavens but instead, of gods that man made for himself.
God knows that we need him. He tells us so throughout the Scriptures. Without Jesus, we would be doomed for eternity. It is only through his sacrifice that we are saved from eternal hell.
We need him. We need him every single day. I know that I do. From sun up to sun down and even while I am sleeping, I need God to help me.
Not the least of where I need his help is in overcoming the stronghold sin of pride. It manifests itself frequently but I am learning more and more that anything I have truly accomplished was done with and for God.
This is a sin that many of us are guilty of having. We are taught to have pride in what we do. We are also taught to excel. It isn’t very often that we are taught that it is something that God has done with us.
In what I have been going through these past few years, I have come to depend on others continually. I have been learning to do a few things but for most things, as my fellow Christian noted, I am needy. Very, very needy.
And that’s okay. It is a lesson that God is teaching me. Perhaps, I have been too hard-headed to learn about it in any other way.
God also loves and helps the needy. It is when we acknowledge that he is in control and that we are not, that he can begin to do his work in our lives.
He hears us and knows what we need more than we do ourselves. He is a very good Father and will give us what we need in order to grow in faith.
Psalm 86:1-7
Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.
Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy.
When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.