My two year-old granddaughter, Josephine, is always excited to share the good news of her accomplishments by putting her hands in the air, smiling her sweet, intoxicating smile, and proclaiming, “I did it!”

We all praise her and tell her how smart, brave, good, or strong she is. That’s what parents and grandparents do. It is also what she needs. She needs to be encouraged and praised, because it builds her confidence to keep growing and accomplishing new things.

But we have to be careful not to give Josephine a false sense of security or make her over-confident to make her think she can do things she is not yet capable of doing.

The same is true when it comes to our own lives and the strength we find in Christ.

We have to balance using our talents and abilities with not becoming too independent. We need to recognize that all we are able to accomplish is possible only because God allows it.

How do we do that?

Prayer.

When we ask daily for the Holy Spirit to guide and sustain us, we remain conscious of who we are and Whose we are. We are able to balance the independence God wants us to have without severing our ties to the strength He provides.