26 Jan Abiding in the Lord

It was 1982. I was a wide-eyed, naïve, college freshman dancing in my pj’s, singing a brand new song and pretending to party like it was 1999! I blinked and 17 years went by.

Suddenly it really was 1999. The world was afraid of what was going to happen when the clock ticked at midnight on New Year’s Eve.  I bought bottled water, stocked up on canned food, and took cash out of the bank like all good preppers did. Y2K came … and went. Nothing happened except I blinked again, and another 17 years have flown by.

I didn’t think much about self-examination when I was that age. Well, at least not the kind of self-examination that mattered spiritually speaking. Now when the calendar turns the final page to a new year, I like to spend some time with the Lord asking Him what areas I need to work on in the days and weeks to come.

The last few weeks of 2016 were not easy and very distracting as I attempted to reflect and ponder. There was sickness in our home that lasted for days on end and unexpected medical news in my family. I couldn’t seem to regain my footing.  My Christmas joy seemed to vaporize before my eyes. Looking at the road I was on frightened me. I was at the corner of gloom and doom and quickly headed to the next stop of full-on despair. I’ve been around long enough to know when you get off at that bus stop, it can take a long time to leave it. Something had to be done and fast.

As I sat and cried before the Lord begging him to show me where I was out of His will, one word kept coming to me through my thoughts, through Scripture, through podcasts, and of all things, through Facebook! I knew that was no coincidence. The word is abide.

The word abide appears in John chapter 15, which is part of the upper room discourse where Jesus is speaking with His disciples alone for the last time before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion. I read John 15:4-11 over and over again and eventually things started to clear. The Lord was so gracious and gentle with me in whispering to my spirit, “Beverly, your joy is gone because you are not abiding in Me.”

I need to find something each day to praise Him for, to be thankful for even in the midst of unfavorable circumstances. These are the times my faith grows the most.

The Lord was right. I thought I was abiding in Him, but I wasn’t. I spent the days leading up to Christmas asking the Lord to show me what it means for me to truly abide in Him and what steps to take to do that. For me it means:

A—Accept that the Lord is sovereignly in control and I am not! 2 Chronicles 20:6 says, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.”  I may not like some of His decisions, but I cannot change them, so I may as well stop trying to wrestle Him for control. He is God, not me.

B—Believe that the Lord is good—always! Psalm 34:8 reminds me of this. “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” I know this truth in my heart as well as I know my own name, but sometimes my head likes to argue with this fact. My mind tells me I am being shortchanged by God. I have to choose on a daily basis to believe the truth instead of this lie.

I—Increasing prayer and praise decreases worry. My life verse is Philippians 4:7.  “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” I need to find something each day to praise Him for, to be thankful for even in the midst of unfavorable circumstances. These are the times my faith grows the most.

D—Do what the Lord is asking of me today—not tomorrow, not next week, not next month or next year, but today!  Deuteronomy 11:13 says,  “…faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul …”  I am not built to look and operate in the future. Only God, the creator of time, can do that.  My job is to be obedient today to what He says in the present.

E—Emphasize an eternal perspective over everything. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 reminds me that “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory … So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” When I start to react negatively in a situation, I need to ask myself, “does this situation have eternal value?” If the answer is no, then I must reevaluate my perspective.

I am not built to look and operate in the future. Only God, the creator of time, can do that.  My job is to be obedient today to what He says in the present.

I’ve only had a few weeks to think about these things and actually do them. But I can already tell you that my joy is returning and my stress is declining. Will this be easy to do all year? No—but it will be well worth it.

At the end of 2017, I hope to be able to write that my life is proof that I have been abiding in the Lord and His words have been abiding in me. I hope I am spending less time trying to grab control from the Lord, less time bound in unbelief, less time fretting and worrying, less time being disobedient, and less time trying to make this current world my home.

-Beverly Kinard