A couple of weeks ago, during a midweek Bible study at the church where I’m Family Discipleship Minister, our Preaching Minister asked about the popular old Christianese motto: Pray like it all depends on God; work like it all depends on you.

All of us—including our preacher—agreed that this phrase is confusing. If I’m working like it all depends on me, then I don’t actually believe that it really all depends on God.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about what it would look like if Christians both prayed and worked like everything depends on God.

When I say work, I mean our vocations as spouses, parents, employees, citizens, neighbors, etc. And that includes whatever we do as churchmen and women.

What if we worked as if it all depends on God?

Right here is where people typically object. That will make people lazy and irresponsible. They’ll be waiting for God to do everything for them!

To that objection, I say: Oh, you sweet summer child!

What often hampers our work is being overwhelmed by our own sense of inadequacy. We feel this especially acutely when we are constantly being told, You are enough.

Enough for what?, I ask.

What paralyzes many of us is knowing that our strength is unequal to our tasks. Some days we are unequal to the task of simply getting out of bed. I’m not talking about laziness or sloth. I’m talking about being overwhelmed.

And I believe many, many of us are fearfully overwhelmed and are either numb to it, or too embarrassed to admit it.

And unfortunately, too many of our pulpits ring with some version of, Just do your best, and God will take care of the rest. Which is a pitiful inversion of the Gospel. God helps those who help themselves is the opposite of the Gospel.

But what if, instead, we worked as if it all depended on God?

Here’s what I mean. There’s another old saying that goes: Everybody wants to save the world, but nobody wants to do the dishes. But too many Christians are burdened with the idea that it’s somehow on them to save the world and do the dishes, too.

But some days our strength is unequal even for doing the dishes. Or folding the laundry.

And we’re left wondering: How can anyone be saved—even me—if I can’t even keep up with the dishes … the laundry … the yard work … the bills … my Bible reading plan?

Meanwhile, the to-do list from the pulpit and the conference speakers and the discipleship gurus piles higher and higher, till one day it crushes us.

What if, instead of all that, we worked as if everything depended on God?

Beginning with trusting His word that says: Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people (Psalm 3‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

It’s not up to you to save the world. Saving the world is none of your business.

It’s not even up to you to save yourself. Salvation is from the Lord. You receive it as a gift, in Christ, by grace through faith.

What if we really believed that salvation belongs to the Lord, and His blessing is upon us?

In other words, what if we simply went into every day boldly acknowledging that: I am not enough? What if we simply accepted that our strength is unequal to the tasks at hand, but God’s is not?

What if we were honest about our limitations, our struggles, the sins of our flesh, and the frustrations of being fallen, fragile creatures living fragile lives in a fallen world?

So we trusted God with the works of our hands and the desires of our hearts, knowing that they would always be incomplete and inadequate; but trusting Him to make good their defects, for Christ’s sake?

What if we worked as if everything depended on God because we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, and who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28 EHV)?

What if we worked as if everything depended on God, because we know that [our] labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭58 NKJV‬)?

What if we worked as if everything depended on God because at the appointed time we will reap, if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9 EHV)?

What if we worked as if everything depended on God because we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)?

What if we worked as if everything depended on God because we’re confident that He who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6 EHV)?

What if we worked as if everything depended on God because it is God who works in [us] both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13 NKJV)?

What if we worked as if everything depends on God because He who calls [us] is faithful, who also will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24 NKJV)?

Yes! The answer is to work as we pray: like it all depends on God!

Not on me. Because if anything depends on me, I don’t see how anyone can be saved. Not even me. But God can do anything but fail!

That’s what these passages are all preaching to us. The God who called us is working all things (even our own limitations and sufferings and regrets) together for our good. He has made us new in Christ, and prepared good works especially for us. He began a good work in us, and will not leave it incomplete. He is faithful and will do it. In the meantime, day by day, minute by minute, He is at work in us–both to will and to act according to His good pleasure.

How much stress does that take off of you?

Especially on those days, even those seasons, when just getting a shower is a struggle; the ends can’t even wave hello to each other; and you actually might deserve a medal just for getting yourself and your knucklehead kids to church on Sunday, roughly on time.

In those seasons, you can live confidently before God and man, because you trust that everything depends on God—not your imperfect, inadequate, incomplete works.

Do you know what every one of the redeemed will declare when Christ returns, and we see how the Lord has woven every thread into a perfect end? Every last glorified one of us, whether we have worked little or much, will say together: O Lord, you establish peace for us. Everything we have done, you have accomplished for us (Isaiah 26:12 EHV).

No one will take any credit that day except the good Lord. Even when you are glorified, you will give Him all the glory. Every good work you have ever done, you will say to Him: you accomplished this for me, in me, and through me.

It turns out, then, that working as if everything depends on God is the only honest way for a Christian to do anything worth doing. Even if you’re not doing it particularly well right now. As Chesterton once wryly observed: If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. When we work as if everything depended on God, not only is good not the enemy of great; neither is ordinary.

Working as if everything depends on God is truly living up to the famous words of 2 Corinthians 5:7: For we walk by faith, not by sight (NKJV). For what is even halting progress that depends upon God and His promises, but walking by faith?

So no: Working as if it all depended on God will absolutely not make you lazy. But it absolutely will save you from going crazy!

Working like everything depends on God (because it does!) means that you’re never worried about who’s going to save the world—or even who’s going to save you—while you’re busy doing the dishes!