“What should I do?” “What if . .
.?” “If only I had . . .” “Maybe I
should try . . .” These are the kinds of
questions and thoughts that take away sleep and sap energy. It can be maddening
and exhausting to deal with such uncertainty.
A few weeks ago, I found myself
with very similar thoughts running on a continuous loop in my head and making
productive work impossible. Then somehow—by God’s grace—I thought of the truth
of God’s Spirit in me. God will show me
the answer, I thought. I need to
trust that He is in control and will show me what to do. And so it was. The
dilemma I was struggling with seemingly worked itself out. I found myself profoundly
grateful for sweet people and their understanding ways, but so much more
grateful for God’s love and care for me in those ordinary decisions that become
so large in my everyday life.
Little by little these days, God
is teaching me to rest and trust that he is there, that he will lead me as I
submit my will to his. I have been re-reading Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray. It’s an old book, published in
the nineteenth century, but its relevance never goes out of date. In a series
of thirty-one meditations, designed to be read over the span of a month, Murray
discusses what it means to live by Jesus’ word in John 15:
Abide in me, and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the
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, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. . . .If you
keep my commandments, you will abide in
my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
I read this book years ago, and I
am grateful that parts of it have stuck with me and that God uses them to guide
my thinking. The following passage from page thirty-seven is what I think must
have pulled emerged from the nooks and crannies of my mind when I was in that
mental stew recently:
And
live, above all, day by day in the blessed truth that, as He Himself, the
living Christ Jesus, is your
wisdom, your first and last care must ever be this alone—to abide in Him.
Abiding in Him, His wisdom
will come to you as the spontaneous outflowing of a life rooted in Him. I am, I
abide in Christ, who was made unto
us wisdom from God (I Corinthians 1:30); wisdom will be given me.
What a blessing! There is much
more I could say about this wonderful little book and what God is teaching me,
but I'll save something for another day. Have a great week abiding in Him.
--Sherry Poff
