“Self-sufficient,” “self-reliant,” and “self-sustainable” are a few popular terms that float around in the homesteading world. If you have been in those circles long enough, you have heard them. And the idea isn’t a terrible one, but I do believe that it can be a little misplaced.
I get it. The idea of not relying on the government or anyone else is totally understandable. Having everything that you need there on your own homestead is an enticing goal.
In the beginning of my homesteading journey, I embraced these ideas and terms, but as time has gone on, I’ve become more and more uncomfortable with them for a few reasons.
- The first reason is that these terms imply that you rely only on yourself for your sufficiency. That doesn’t sit well with me because I know that God is the only One who is truly self-sufficient. He needs nothing and relies on no one. Acts 17:25 says, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” I cannot be self-sufficient because I am not God.
- Not only that, but we rely on God Himself for everything. If He didn’t create us, the world, and the systems in this world, we wouldn’t even be here doing what we are doing (Psalm 104 – read it all! It’s all good!). We rely on Him to provide the sun and rain, which make the plants grow, which in turn feeds us and the livestock. We rely on Him for the seeds to sprout and for the animals to conceive and give birth. We rely on Him for our very breath and for the movement of our legs and arms. We can do nothing without Him. We have a COMPLETE reliance on Him, not ourselves.
- Lastly, sometimes we just have to be reliant on other people. And that’s okay. God created us to be in community. Acts 2:44-47 gives a beautiful picture of what community can look like: “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
In this last passage, we see God’s people sharing with one another, and there was no one in need. They loved each other and worked together to meet each other’s needs.
What does this look like in the homestead world? It looks like trading some of your produce with your neighbor in exchange for a meat chicken that they raised. It looks like sharing a dozen eggs with the family down the street who is behind on their bills.
Sometimes it looks like helping the crazy chicken lady who has zero carpentry skills, and four kids ages six and under, build an over-the-top chicken coop. (That’s what my dad did, by the way ?)
In the spring, I had convinced myself that I was going to build my chicken coop completely on my own. So I ordered a DIY shed kit from Home Depot. I grabbed my shovel, and started digging to lay myself a foundation of concrete blocks. I was meticulous. That foundation was LEVEL. And then when my dad came over to see it and talk me through how to build the coop, and we realized that the foundation was the wrong size ?♀️
So guess who did the rest? ?
My dad was super kind about it. He made adjustments to the size of the shed so that it fit the foundation that I had worked so hard to set. He came over for a few hours at a time until it was done, and even built an additional lean-to on the side for shade for the chickens and for my hope to have rabbits in the future. There is still more to do, but it’s finished enough for my chickens!
I never would have been able to do this on my own. Maybe I could have in another season, when I don’t have four young kids running under my feet, and I had all the time in the world to figure it out. But right now, I have to be reliant on others, and that’s okay. There will be a time for me to do some things on my own later. But this is not that season. Times like this reminds me of how blessed I am to have people like my dad, who serve us selflessly and without expectation.
So next time you start getting a little nervous about not having everything that you might need, just remember that Jesus said, “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:25-33)
If you don’t like using these terms, what words do you attribute to your homestead, instead?
