I was raised to have a self sufficient attitude: don't depend on other people for survival, take care of your own, plan ahead, don't overextend yourself, save for the future. All in all not bad ideals. Certainly wise thoughts in today's society of "give it all to me now". However, I have come to realize that self sufficiency, just like about anything else, can become a god, little g.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Matthew 6: 25-27
God tells us not to worry about what is to come. Earlier in this same chapter He says to pray "Give us this day our daily bread" (vs. 11 emphasis mine). We are only to ask for what we need that day. God gives us this in a very real example, with the Israelites in the wilderness. They were to go out each morning and gather the manna for .that day. The only exception was the day before the Sabbath.
God wants us to rely on Him for our needs. He wants us to make wise choices and be good stewards of what He has given us. But ultimately He is our provider and our sustainer, and He wants us to act like it.
Striving to be self sufficient and depend on no one for anything, only brings us stress and discontent (you knew I had to get that word in there somehow didn't you). I am striving to do my best with what God has given me, but I must also not stress over the issues and let Him provide and comfort me.
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