Week 4: RESET Our Reliance

“…apart from Me, you can do nothing.” — John 15:5

As we reach week four of Lent, deeper patterns in our lives start to appear. We’ve slowed down our pace. We’ve allowed God to examine our hearts. We’ve begun to notice where our focus is. And now, another question demands our attention: 

What am I relying on to get me through this season?

Reliance isn’t a weakness—it’s by design.
God designed us to live in relationship with Him, looking to Him as the true source of everything we need.

Jesus makes this truth unmistakably clear when He says in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” 

Jesus presents this as truth, not as pressure or performance. Life doesn’t originate from the branch, nor does strength. Fruit isn’t something we produce through effort or willpower; it’s a natural result of staying connected to the vine, the source of life.

Apart from that connection, Jesus clearly states, we can do nothing. This isn’t a statement of shame; it’s an invitation back to reality.

Most of us don’t see ourselves as independent—we see ourselves as responsible, capable, and faithful. We manage what’s been given to us. We show up. We try to do the right thing. But as we slow down during Lent, we start to notice how easily responsibility can turn into self-reliance.

Jesus teaches us that life, fruit, and strength don’t come from trying harder but from staying connected.

Lent reminds us of this truth.

 During a season when we often think about giving things up, God is working on something deeper—He is loosening our hold on self-reliance.

We begin to rediscover something we easily forget: our need for daily dependence on Him.

Dependence isn’t dramatic or complicated. It’s the attitude of a life that keeps looking to God again and again for strength, wisdom, and guidance. It’s choosing to stay connected rather than carrying the weight of life alone.

We were never meant to create life on our own.
We were made to receive it, stay connected, and abide.

When we forget this, we strive.
We exhaust ourselves.
We carry burdens we were never meant to bear.

This week of Lent encourages us to RESET our reliance—not by doing less for God, but by learning how to stay connected to Him. To recognize where we’ve been trying to produce fruit on our own. And to return to the place where life truly flows.

Pay attention to moments this week when you feel pressure to figure everything out, hold everything together, or produce results on your own.

Jesus, teach me to stay connected to You and trust You as the source of my life.