Abiding in God - a definition

(original post was written September 2019 as a newsletter)

In this past month, I’ve been listening to one song on repeat. It's called Abide - by Housefires. Looking back at the past month that theme stands out in everything. My letter board next to my bed currently reads "begin by yielding", which will sound familiar if you read the previous open letter. Grab a cup of steaming, settle in, let's talk about abiding.

Jeremiah 15:16 "When Your words came I ate them, they were my joy and my heart's delight."

w h e r e   a b i d i n g   b e g i n s

Even amidst the busyness of life, we tend to believe that we need to strive to get to a certain point. So we are always planning, always looking forward, very rarely even being aware of where we are in that moment. One of the least obvious reasons for why we need to abide is so that we will notice. 

In a conversation with a friend two days before September waved goodbye, the following metaphor came up: When we're busy it can feel like we're running a marathon - we take help in the form of water (from loved ones; from the One who loves like no other). As we sprint by, we grab it as sustenance, as what keeps us going- and we keep running. How often do we actually look the giver in the eye, stop for a moment, and thank them? How often do we notice?

t h e   c h o i c e 

After noticing, it is necessary to make a choice, otherwise, things won’t change at all. I think of bad habits like tiny weeds in a garden, they're much easier to pull out at first, but with time they get stronger and more difficult to remove. Let's try to make a choice as soon as we notice. Allow whatever erupts after the noticing to happen - "that's how He made you, just let it happen"

Even if where you are right now is not to clear, it is all the littlest ‘yes’-es that finally adds up towards something big. If like me, spending hours reading Scripture or sitting in prayerful meditation sounds no fun to you at first, that is so okay. “It is okay to be here, it is okay to not rush through and destroy your middle – the place where you reach for the future just before you shed yourself of the past.”- Danielle Doby.

God didn't want slaves anyway, He simply wants for us to notice His hand in our lives. Like steel that draws to a magnet, it is in our DNA to draw towards God. And from this space (of fulfilled purpose) there erupts joy, growth, happiness, and a hunger for more of Him (instead of a space of having to tick the boxes which leads to the opposite).

t h e   g r o w t h 

"Take Courage, my heart. Stay Steadfast, my soul. He's in the waiting." When we take the time to stand still, when we take a breath, it will always lead to something new: new life, newfound purpose, renewed identity. For me, this came in the form of newfound peace. The pause that I was speaking about in a newsletter a few months ago has become my reality- even without me noticing it. The most freeing aspect of this was to be able to bring anything into this peace - any state that I am in, any stress or fears that I have, any emotions I am experiencing. And then, peace will overcome the emotions. I don’t know how it works, or why it works but man, it’s good! 

w h a t   n o w ?

So I want to challenge you to only one thing this month: 

 Notice the things you are acting out of and determine the life-giving disciplines versus those that are suffocating. Notice them; and then choose to abide first.  Even in breath-prayers, it's Him.