FOLLOWING JESUS WHEN YOU WOULD RATHER DO IT YOURSELF

By Kyle Idleman

DO IT YOURSELF CULTURE

We are living in a DIY culture. DIY, as you probably know, stands for Do It Yourself.

We see our DIY orientation most with the self-help movement. Countless speakers and authors seek to convince us that, “I’m ok!” and “You’re ok!” and “I’m the answer to my problems!” and “You can be the best and start living your best life!”

Let’s say you wanted to fix your problems yourself, guess how many self-help books you could purchase? 45,000! After reading 45,000 books, your self should be able to really help your self!

One time I was in Colorado Springs. I woke up early and walked across the street from my hotel to a McDonalds to get some breakfast. Outside I met a homeless man named Lenny. Lenny asked for money. I gave him a bit, and asked Lenny a few questions. Lenny told me he had been homeless in the cold Colorado mountains for eight years.

I asked, “What is the hardest part about being homeless?” He answered immediately. “Man, the hardest part is asking for help.” We talked for awhile longer, and finally I asked one last question, “If it’s so hard to ask for help, what made you finally ask for help?” He said, “Well, I had no other choice. I had no other choice, and so I asked for help.”

I don’t think Lenny is alone. Especially in this culture we are living in. The hardest part for most of us is asking for help. This is a problem because if we do it ourselves, that means God’s not doing it. Relying on ourselves means we aren’t relying on God.

GOING FROM DIY TO DIWG

DIWG might be a new term for you. It means Do It With God.

Going from DIY to DIWG is hard. In fact, I think a lot of us won’t do it unless we feel like we have no other choice. So, let me be more clear. We have no other choice. Why? Because DIY from a spiritual sense is a dead end. The Bible makes it clear that my problem is with me. If I’m the problem than I’m probably not the solution.

If I rely on me, I’ll always struggle with the same problems and never become what I need to be. Not only for me, but for my family and friends and all the people who rely on me.

Our navigation skills, by nature, get skewed. We get distracted easily and taken off course by shiny things that catch our eye. We complicate the journey and, sometimes, never even reach our destination. God knows the route from point A to point Z, and everywhere in between. He will take us much farther if we will only let him lead. Relying on God to navigate our direction in this life is much more productive.

We need to go from DIY to DIWG. And I don’t mean DIWG like, “I’m gonna do it myself, but I’ll throw up a token prayer before I do.” It’s also not a, ‘tell God he’s welcome to sit in the passenger seat as you drive us where you want to go, the way you want to get there.’ It’s an, ‘invite God to take the steering wheel, I sit in the passenger seat and see what God needs me to do in the journey he’s leading me on.’