God is bigger than that. With respect to self-reliance, my God would have me put my trust nowhere else. From the beginning, God was. The ancients believed in God. People throughout the ages have believed in God, whether they would listen to God or not.
Romans speaks to the question quite clearly.
Many civilizations in the past have tried to deny God, and have adopted strange practices that did away with themselves. Self-reliance and dependence on God are not mutually exclusive. As a parent, I do for my children what they cannot do for themselves. But I would be amiss to do for them what they can do themselves. They would not mature.