It's always good to have a back-up, but everyone knows that plan B is never as good as plan A because we always want to get it right the first time. But if that's the case, why is it that many Christians only turn to God as a back-up plan or sometimes even as a last resort?
God is and must always be our number one priority. Matthew 6:33 tells us, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Yet most of us struggle with having Jesus as the centre of everything we do. Truth be told, we all know that there is no one as reliable as Jesus. He may not always make things happen the way we want it to, but He makes all things work together for our overall good.
God wants us to be completely dependent on His grace in everything—that's why He calls us to live lives of faith.
Here are three indicators that we have treated Jesus as a back-up plan instead of making Him plan A.
Anxiety and worry
When we are anxious, it is an indicator that which we place our hope on has been compromised. Whether it's money, connections or even our own strength, when we make anything either than Jesus the source of provision, protection and strength, we feel uncertain and anxious.
Philippians 4:6 reminds us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Anxiety is proof that something uncertain has taken God's place.
Fear
1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."
When Jesus is in our hearts, we are filled with His perfect love.
But every so often we've all experienced having an uncontrollable fear creep into our hearts.
The best antidote to fear is not faith, but the perfect love that we experience when Jesus is in our lives. In times of trial and testing, do we turn right away to Christ as the solution and respond in faith for provision and direction? Or do we look first to things other than Jesus for solutions?
Complacency
While God wants us to wait and trust in Him, we should never interpret this as God asking us to be lazy. God wants us to be excellent and work hard in pursuing Him and in serving and loving others. Proverbs 13:4 says, "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied."
