Sunday, March 13, 2016

Abiding

Do you ever feel weary of trying to figure out God's will for things in your life? Do you feel overwhelmed by decisions about where you should serve and when you should say no? When I find myself having thoughts like this I remember John 15. It is in the beginning of this chapter that Jesus gives us the picture of him being the vine and God being the gardener. In verse 4 and 5 he says this:

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."



When I used to hear the word "abide" I would get a picture in my head of me trying to cling to this branch with all my might. It was something that took so much effort and something that I was doing by myself, in my own strength. Now my picture of abiding is much different. I am now reminded of how I would carry my kids when they were just newborns. I had this really expensive piece of cloth called a cuddle wrap and when my little one was unhappy and really needed to be put to sleep, I would put them in there. It is really quite a complicated contraption but I would somehow manage to get them in there and all they had to do was relax, knowing they were right with me and that I was taking care of them. 





Sometimes in life even the idea of abiding with God, which really just means spending time with Him and getting on the same page about things, seems like too much work. We are tired and often confused. It is then that we need to remember that we don't need to figure everything out. Just as my newborns did not have to figure out how to get themselves into the cuddle wrap. We need to know that God has the complexities of life figured out for us and as we abide in Him he also abides in us. We do not have to do all the work. We, like a newborn baby, just have to cry out to Him and realize our need for him to take care of us. Then we can rest in His very capable arms knowing that He will do the work in our hearts that needs to be done. We can rely on Him for the energy, the passion, the direction and everything else we need. And unlike me and my newborns, we don't have to worry that when we get really comfy and cozy he will try to put us down in our cribs without us noticing so he can get some much needed housework done! Jesus isn't like that. He wants us to continue to rely on him for all we need and never try to self soothe or do anything on our own. What a wonderful saviour we have! 

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