How Are You Abiding?
A MESSAGE FROM AMBER:
ABIDING IN the PLACE, TIME, CONDITION to which the LORD has called you.
This is the biggest understatement EVER… but… God is SO awesome. I am so encouraged and blessed by this whole concept of abiding… especially at this place in my life because… well… you’ll see.
As you heard in the podcast, the Greek word that is translated as abiding is MENO and it references 3 different situations…
- A Place
- A Time
- A State or Condition
1. A PLACE
Y’all… can I just be really honest with you right now? I have been in a PLACE this last week. I have been struggling and quite honestly the fight or flight instinct has been present in a tangible way.
I know that I am not alone when I say that there are some days that you just want to RUN AWAY. You feel like your 8 year old self has taken over and you sprint out of your house convinced that you and your backpack full of chips, candy bars, and teddy-bears need to go start a new life somewhere.
It’s times like this when I am so grateful to God for brining mentors into my life. Mentors who will say things like, “God will never call you out of a place, but He will always call you IN to a place.”
Let every man, however he is called, therein abide with God. (1 Corinthians 7:24)
Exhale. So what is this saying? That I have to stay somewhere where I’m unhappy? That I am stuck with every decision I’ve made? Where’s the undo button!?
Oh friends… God is so much better than that. Reread the verse above. God isn’t just calling us to ABIDE. He is calling us to abide with HIM.
If there is anything the Lord has been teaching me lately it is the simple yet undeniable truth that He is here and ever so present with us as we abide.
2. A TIME
And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.'” (Matthew 11:6)
There are going to be times in your walk with God where He will CHALLENGE you. He will push you and grow you and those growing pains are going to hurt. They are going to scratch at those sensitive places that you’ve avoided for years and years.
God has been showing me some really ugly things about myself that He wants to sanctify and believe me when I say… I wanted to leave. Not “leave” the faith… but I wanted to stop listening to Him. I wanted to stop the hard work of sanctification… of dying to “self”.
For some of you, Jesus is telling you what He was telling me. “Stick with it… stick with me.. I know this is hard but you will be so much better off if you can just trust me.”
Friction in our life is good. The Holy Spirit is constantly nudging and convicting us. Some times he has to be harsher than others… and even though the “confrontation” can be hard… it means that God still sees further growth in us… He hasn’t given up on us and I PRAISE HIS NAME that He is sticking with me… and improving me.
3. A STATE OR CONDITION
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
The word for wait in the Hebrew is Qavah (Kah –VAH) which means to wait, look for, hope, expect or to wait or look eagerly for.
God wants us to remember that while we are abiding He is preparing a new thing. An exciting thing for us. Abiding is only part of the story that God is writing for us. It’s a means to an end. And it is an opportunity for Him to remind us that He isn’t finished with us!
I am so excited for what God has in store for all of us! I pray that Jesus envelops you with His peace as you abide in Him this week! Please share your own “Abiding Story” in the comments below!