I think we get stuck on the word abiding meaning something it doesn’t. Abiding was my word for this year and I've been asking God to remind me what I've been learning.
(Spoiler: More to come on words for the year).
We picture a cozy chair and cup of coffee, sitting with God in the quiet. Don't get me wrong, while these moments are deeply important, we have to transfer this to getting up and walking. Taking God with us through the WHOLE Day. That’s where the joy is; that’s where the power comes. Abiding is a lifestyle.
Walk with Him. Take Him with you. Everywhere you go.
When you purposefully do this, It’s like that warm beverage to go feeling. (Yes, I did just manage to relate another post to a cup of coffee).
Everything about our days pulls us from this center. We are distracted more than any generation before us. It's easy to see and hear from God in your quiet time with Him, but what do I do when it gets cloudy? Which is like the minute I get up.
I have been refreshing this habit, I like to call it tugging on the rope.
Hebrews says that we are to hold fast to hope, it is our anchor that goes behind the curtain (meaning the Holy of Holies, the current in the temple that guarded the presence of God). That is where Jesus is. He is currently in heaven where scripture says that He is making intercesion for us.
" We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual life line, reaching past all appearances right to the vey presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us..." Hebrews 6:18-19 MSG
If my hope anchors me to Him in heaven, then prayer is like a tug on the rope that moves me closer to Him. Each time I pray, I pull myself that much closer. Each time I remind myself that God is there with me, each time I ask for direction and expect an answer, I get closer. Every time I ask God to help me remember what I need to remember, I get closer. When I stop and thank God for all the random blessings of the day, a tug closer. The closer that my boat gets to the anchor (my life to Jesus), the more steady it feels. The more I bring awareness of God into my day, the more stability I feel.
Abiding produces fruit, and while that growth is all a product of God’s blessing, we have to move when He says move. To receive that direction, we practice listening as we go and follow step by step dependence.
The quiet moments, the stillness, it’s important, but we have to learn how to quiet our soul within us when the world is not quiet. We limit God by thinking He can only reach us when the setting is just right. He wants to go with us into today, This afternoon, and tonight. He wants to be there when we wake tomorrow. Always with us...Emmanuel.
So today, when you feel distant, don't buy that lie, tug on the rope.
Father, tell me again that you love me. Tell me that you want to be with me. Tell me again that I am forgiven in your eyes. help me hold it in my heart all day. I invite you to be everywhere I am , everywhere I go. Tune me in to hear your voice. Thank you that I can hear you when I listen, and see you when I focus.