Have you ever noticed how much we rely on things without even thinking about it? Imagine the electricity going out. You grab a flashlight or light a candle, but then you walk into another room and, without even realizing it, you flip the light switch. Why? Because electricity is usually there. It is dependable.

But here is the question: What happens when the things you depend on are suddenly gone?

👉 A job you thought was secure disappears.

👉 Your health, which you took for granted, is shaken.

👉 The life you carefully built suddenly unravels.

I know this because I lived it. For years, I believed that if I worked hard, got a good education, and stayed disciplined, I could take care of myself and my family. And for a long time that seemed true. I earned a degree in mechanical engineering, built a strong career, and provided well. To be honest, I took pride in my accomplishments.

But God began showing me that the things I thought I controlled were never really in my hands.

Back in 2001, my family and I had stable jobs and had just built our dream home on the family farm. Life felt secure. Then God called us to leave everything and move across the country to help start a church in Las Vegas. Suddenly, what had felt dependable was gone. I was 1,800 miles from everything familiar, with no idea how to help plant a church. For the first time, I was totally dependent on God.

Years later, we moved back to Tennessee to care for our aging parents. I assumed I would quickly find a job, but I could not. For almost a year, I had no way to provide. My confidence was shaken, but God had to break my pride. When He finally provided work, I knew it was His hand and not mine.

Then came another test. I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Until then, I had never been seriously sick. I had always taken my health for granted. But this time, I could do nothing. No effort of mine could remove those cancer cells. Only God could determine whether I lived or died. Once again, I learned that I was never truly in control.

God’s Word speaks directly to this:

📖 “For everything that belongs to the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.”

— 1 John 2:16–17

All of our accomplishments, possessions, and status will fade away. But what is done in God’s will lasts forever.

So, what remains when life shakes everything else?

Paul gives us the answer:

📖 “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

— 1 Corinthians 13:13

✨ FAITH

Faith is more than belief. It is trust.

📖 “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

📖 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift, not from works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Faith means surrendering control. Like stepping onto a plane, once the wheels leave the ground, you are no longer in control. In the same way, true saving faith is putting your life in God’s hands, trusting Him fully.

✨ HOPE

Hope is more than wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation of what God has promised.

📖 “According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”

— 1 Peter 1:3–4

That word “kept” is powerful. Your eternal inheritance already exists, and God Himself is keeping it safe for you. No one can take it away.

✨ LOVE

And love is the foundation of it all.

📖 “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins.”

— 1 John 4:8–10

It all comes back to God’s love. His love is what makes faith and hope possible.

And here is the good news for you today:

📖 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

— John 3:16–17

That is what you can depend on. Not your strength. Not your success. Not even your health. But on God’s unshakable love and grace through Jesus Christ.

💭 Friend, when life strips away everything else, faith, hope, and love will remain. Will you put your trust in Him today?