Devotion #6: We All Need Jesus

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8  

For as long as I can remember, I have struggled with putting my identity, self-worth, and all of my trust in people. Every choice I made was dependent on what people thought I should do. Even after I moved out of my parents’ house, my dad’s opinions and thoughts held a stronger stance over my life than anyone else. Eventually, I moved on from my dad, and I held tight to the words of my best friend, then my secular friends, then my husband, and then my mentor. I called Jesus the King of my life, but in reality, people were. I often found myself in a puddle of my own tears, in panic attacks, and second-guessing every decision that led me to where I was at that moment. More often than not, I was there because I was no longer doing what was biblical or what God had called me to do, but instead what everyone else thought I should do.  

I believe we have all been guilty of doing this at some point in our lives. We all crave acceptance. We crave for people to be proud of us, for people to think highly of us. We have all held the unbearable weight of not wanting to let someone down. It is okay to lean on each other and bring each other closer to the Lord. God has given us community, family, and friends, so we can do that (Proverbs 27:17). However, we cannot use people as placeholders for God.  

As people, God can use us to help bring someone to Him, but we are unable to give them salvation. As people, we can encourage and pray with others, but we are unable to forgive others of their sins. We are all guilty and are in need of a Savior. Romans 3:23-24 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” It is because of this that we are always in desperate need of relying on Jesus. My dad, best friend, and husband are amazing people who love the Lord with all their hearts, but at the end of the day, they are not God. They will eventually leave me disappointed if I continue to put all of my trust in them and not in Jesus.