I need you the most whenever I feel that I need you the least

Bhagavad Gita 2.60

yatato hy api kaunteya

puruṣasya vipascitaḥ

indriyāṇi pramāthīni

haranti prasabhaṁ manaḥ

“Even those who are wise and strong,

The senses can pull them forcefully along.

Restless and relentless, the senses lead all astray,

Sweeping into illusion, from wisdom far away.”

My dear Lord, as long as I don’t recognize the power of illusion, I will not feel the need for your mercy.

The power of illusion sometimes manifests as problems that seem overwhelming, making me turn to you in hopeless urgency and despair. But a far more dangerous and insidious attack of illusion is temptation.

In the midst of tribulation, the main obstacle to my devotion is the fear that you may not intervene to protect me. But in the midst of temptation, the main obstacle is far more debilitating—the feeling that I don’t need you at all because the world offers far greater pleasure than what you can give me, and therefore, you no longer matter to me.

But it is only after temptations drag me deep into dark illusions—impelling me to actions I would normally have shuddered to do and trapping me in troubling and terrible situations, largely of my own doing—that I realize how much I need you in times of temptation.

In those moments, I need you as my savior, especially because those are the times when I feel that I don’t need any savior.

Bless me with intelligence, O Lord, so that I can remember that I need you the most whenever I feel that I need you the least.

***

02.60 The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.