Cloud vs. Server…Dependence vs. Independence
In technology circles, cloud computing is all the rage. Keep your music, contacts, apps, projects…everything… in the cloud. When it’s on your computer or server, it can be lost, stolen, corrupted, or get out of date quick. But when it’s in the cloud, it’s safe, portable, backed up and current (Stick with me…this’ll make sense in 300 more words!).
For years, I’ve focused on ‘becoming all I can be’. I’ve been about learning and growing…as a person and as a Christ-follower. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing. But the risk is becoming more about self-improvement than self-surrender, and in thinking I’m competent so I leave God out of my thinking.
When bad stuff happens, Christ-followers have been taught to ask “What are you teaching me Lord?” For years, I’ve done this. And told my mentees too. Now, I’m learning to ask “What would you have me know Lord?” and then “What would you have me do with what you’ve shown me?” It’s a subtle difference, but significant.
Most people see Christianity as a set of principles and beliefs, mostly centered around deciding what to do or not do. We’re taught to read our Bible and learn all we can. When we hit rough waters, we’re to ask “What are you teaching me here Lord?” and learn from every experience. That says “Hey, I’m the decision maker. I want to learn from my mistakes. I want to get better and better.” It’s like we’re storing more and more wisdom on our computer, ready to access when the next storm hits. Learning is good, right? Hard to argue.
But if a disciple is a ‘learner and follower of Jesus Christ, what about the ‘follow’ part? We can focus so much on the learning part….so much on ourselves and our performance, that we cut the living God out of the equation. While we set ourselves up to make the next decision better than the last, we also set ourselves to think we’re smart enough to act independently. For leaving the omniscient, omnipotent God of the universe on the sideline. We can get smarter but miss His wisdom AND the fellowship He wants with us decision by decision, minute by minute, day by day.
So in the analogy, God’s wisdom is in the cloud. If we turn to Him when we make decisions, before long we’ll be totally dependent on Him. On the other hand, when we depend on our ‘server’…on our brain and experience, the less dependent we are on Him.
Proverbs 4:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”.
It’s in the cloud.
Question: Are you moving toward dependence on God or independence from God? Tell us here…
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Responses (12)
Amen, Regi. More and more, I’m realizing that my faith in God is about stuff other than ME, MY well-being, and MY improvement. I’ve got to change the way I think about the Lord.
…and think of Him MORE. That’s my issue. Like the children of Israel, I just forget as I go about my days attempting to make “progress”.
Regi, you have hit the nail on the head here… I think there are quite a few correlations to the whole “cloud” thing, and the Internet in general, as to how we (as a people, as humans) are trying to recreate our own sense of a God experience, but that would take forever to explain. In any event, you nailed it; we must act and think in reliance on Him, not store all this on our own “hard drives” to use as assets for self reliance. Really appreciated this post!
being a cloud computing expert, I’m not surprised you took it even further. Thanks for chiming in Cary. Very helpful!
Just outstanding, Regi.
Thanks my friend!
My ‘computer’ is under a constant barrage of viruses and malware. At best it seems to work ok, for a while, until strangely enough it needs to be rebooted again, and again.
Dependence rooted in humility is where I am ‘moving’. When I catch glimpses of it, I want more of it. Then there I go again, finding my feet stuck in the mud of independence, going nowhere of value, fast, missing out on all He has in store!
I’m with you Todd…
A couple of thoughts. The first is when we ask “What are you teaching me here Lord?” it implies (to me) that the Lord was behind it in the first place. Shouldn’t the question be “What can I learn from this Lord?”? We never see Jesus inflicting any bad thing on anyone to teach them or get their attention. (Disclaimer – I grew up in the “oh, you fell & broke your arm? God must be trying to get your attention” false teaching. No actually I was through a forest blindfolded on a dare & fell, God had nothing to do with it.)
The second is a question. While I 100% agree with your point that we are never to try & “out grow” God, but to remain dependent on Him, aren’t there certain things we should learn to handle on our own – based on His principles & ways? Like a child learning to tie their own shoe, or feed themselves?
Enjoy your post, thanks for giving of yourself.
absolutely correct. That’s a much better (and theologically accurate) question. Thanks for sharing that one….I won’t forget it again. On your second point, it’s not about utility, it’s about fellowship. I don’t think God wants me to ask Him how to tie my shoes, but as I tie them, He loves to hear me say “Thanks for giving me these shoes. Today, make them the ‘shoes of the Gospel of peace’.
It’s interesting how something good like self-improvement can turn into something bad like pride and we can get pretty excited about ourselves. God wants us to improve without losing our dependance on Him. Great article!
…and so tempting to grab hold of in our culture. Listening to God and walking with Him seems so much harder than putting things on our ‘to do’ list and checking them off. Yet if the deal is about ‘being’, how can we not repent and give Him the allegiance, time and attention that takes us to where HE wants us to go? Ugh…….