I think all of us would agree that it’s nice to be needed. I don’t mean that in any kind of unhealthy sense, like we’re getting all our value and sense of self-worth out of feeling needed or anything like that. But there is a healthy kind of being needed because none of us are autonomous. We need one another. We are dependent. To be needed by others, in a healthy sense, means that we’re living in the way that we were designed to. People care about us, and we care about them.
But I’m thankful one specific person doesn’t need me. This same person doesn’t need you, either. That person, of course, is God.
It’s good that God doesn’t need us
One of the ways the Bible describes God is as gloriously independent. He is self-sufficient. God is intimately involved in all that happens in this world, but He exists apart from it. He is not bound by the limits of space and time the way we are. God has no beginning, and no end. He simply is (Genesis 1:1). Because He eternally exists as three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20)—God is never lonely. He has no need for anything (Psalm 50:12). No one acts as His advisor (Isaiah 40:13). He does not sit on His throne lacking anything, nor does He long for us to bring him something He does not already possess. Everything in the world—and even the world itself—belongs to Him.
You might be wondering why this would make me thankful. After all, if God doesn’t need me for anything, then doesn’t that say that what I do doesn’t really matter? Not at all, and I’ll explain why shortly. I’m thankful God is self-sufficient because, if he were dependent on me, God wouldn’t be God. He would be something less, something limited, a being whose plans and purposes are, effectively, hopes and wishes. Someone unworthy of His very name, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
It’s even better that God includes us
Without a doubt, I’m thankful that God doesn’t need you or me because I’m thankful that God is God. And even though God doesn’t need me, I’m also thankful He includes me.
I say includes because, as tempted as I am to say invites, that’s not quite strong enough. He intends for us to join Him in His work of redeeming the world, in making Christ known to all people through the good works He prepared for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).
And I’m thankful that, because He has included us, we experience His pleasure in us as we pursue those good works. God is a loving Father who delights in His children (Psalm 147:11-12; Zephaniah 3:17), and His delight transforms into ours.
That’s what I’m thankful for. God doesn’t need me, but as a good Father does, He delights including me—involving me—in His business. And that, to me, is liberating. It is life-changing, even. It changes our perceptions, the attitudes and habits we’ve all built up over a lifetime of trying to go our own way. Of feeling shame every time we fail to meet our perception of God’s expectations.
It frees us to enjoy and delight in the God who, because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, delights in us. It frees us to be thankful every moment of every day. This is good news I’m grateful for. And it is good news I don’t want to lose sight of, even for a second.
Aaron Armstrong
Aaron Armstrong is a marketing director for Thomas Nelson Bibles. He is also the author of multiple books, including Faith Simplified: What We Believe and Why We Believe It. As an adult convert, Aaron writes to engage those curious about Christianity, encourage new believers, and equip those who come alongside them. For nearly 20 years, he has served local churches as a preacher, small group leader, and children’s ministry leader. He and his wife, Emily, have three teenage children.
