Self-Sufficiency and Trust

Striving for absolute self-sufficiency is a vice, not a virtue. When you have no one in your life that you can call and say, “I’m scared,” then your life is empty, isolated, unrelational, and unfulfilling. You need somebody you can trust enough to say, “I need help!”

If you truly recognize that you need help, it’s easy to find. Simply accept the loving invitation of our comforting Savior: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). If you are still hesitant, then pay heed to his more emphatic words about misdirected self-sufficiency: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away . . . and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned” (Jn 15:5-6, emphasis mine).

Dependence on the Lord involves pervasive trust on our part, of course. Yet, paradoxically, while we depend on him, he has also chosen to depend on us; that is, he depends on us for the accomplishment of his plans. He even pays us for our labor: “You have been trustworthy in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Mt 25:21).

This excerpt is from the book Pathways of Trust, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and tapes can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.