Abide

Not Abiding

I had some bad moments last week of not abiding way too well.

Abide is most often a Biblical word from the Greek word menó, to stay, abide, remain.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. (John 15:4, ESV)

I like the Merriam-Webster’s definition.

Abide (transitive verb)
1 a :to bear patiently :tolerate
b :to endure without yielding :withstand
2 :to wait for :await
3 :to accept without objection

Teachings of abide in John 15:4 usually regards clinging to, remaining attached to the vine that is Jesus/God.  Whatever happens, abide.

In that sense, I guess I do abide, technically. I say technically because I never actually let go. However, I waver and my mind wanders into thoughts unfit to abide with the Lord that spawn from doubt that arises in unfavorable situations.  

Any disciple worth his salt should know better than to let feelings rule the moment but this disciple doubts.  Sometimes I doubt so deeply that it seems I have barely a shred of hope in me.

If let myself slip down that doubt slope, not abiding may manifest as anxiety or bitterness or resentment or judgment or envy or self-pity.  I may even start spewing a lot of stupid questions God’s way, like "Why? What’s going on? How could this be happening?" I completely forget that I don’t need answers to any of those questions, all I need is God himself.

Abide.  Cling.  Remain. Hold on… "Take a deep breath," I tell myself.

Summarizing the consummation of Job’s ordeal, Sam Williamson notes, “When Job gives conversational control back to God, God simply reveals himself...When Job sees God, he drops all his pretensions of control...In seeing God, Job is completely satisfied. He never needed the answer he thought he needed; he needed God alone.”  

Here’s a great list of what abiding looks like: “...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Galatians 5: 22-23). Precede each with “genuine” vs. the disingenuous but very popular, “Fake it ‘till you make it.”

Here again, turning to God’s Word is lifesaving.  Meditating on a few verses gets me back on the abiding track:

Care to offer a few of your own favorites? 

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Notes

1. Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash
2. Sam Williamson quote from his book, “Hearing God in Conversation,” page 102

 

 

 

Competing Ways: Gurus vs. God

The Guru track to career success.  Whose missing?

The Guru track to career success.  Whose missing?

In the rather convoluted job/career track I’ve been on since 2008, 16 positions in nine years, my current job has by far been the most enjoyable.  It seems I found something new I flourish at - customer service!  

Might have something to do with the workplace -  a hardware store - essentially a toy store for a Do-It-Yourself guy like me.

It’s a great work environment - a knowledgeable, patient boss, supportive and friendly co-workers and a growing and appreciative customer base. I also love the part-time schedule that has allowed me to work a little more on some long latent creative longings like this blog, writing in general, maybe doing something more with my ornaments...

Unfortunately, the variable schedule pushes against the rhythms my creativity thrives best in and then there’s the compensation issue.  Retail pay is notoriously poor and I’m at the lowest rung possible.  Although we gave this a go, we’ve been tapping into our modest savings to cover our bills.

We already live frugally but we managed to find a couple small costs to cut back on while keeping a closer eye on spending.  Meanwhile we lean heavily into what has become our primary life strategy - to trust in, abide with and wait on the Lord.

Me as a True Value, "Customer Service Associate"

Me as a True Value, "Customer Service Associate"

This "Trust-Abide-Wait" focus finally locked in with me in 2016, a few months after I was “downsized” from position #15.  During eight or so years of career-searching, I basically vacillated between following the “Guru” career-search track and seeking/depending on the Lord.

“Guru” is my term for the generally advised career-search strategy that involves crafting a plan with tailored materials and pitches that feed a relentless campaign to aggressively promote yourself to hiring managers who make the call about who gets the job and who does not.

Some of the Guru mantras are: “Go big or go home… Just do it… If you want it, you gotta go get it;” and,  “Don’t turn back until you hit your mark.”

In stark contrast is God’s way along the line of Jesus’ striking teaching in Matthew’s gospel:

““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! ”
— Matthew 7: 7-12, ESV

Notice how individualized God’s advice is.  “EveryONE who asks receives, and the ONE who seeks finds, and to the ONE who knocks it will be opened.”  

So how does God work out what happens when each of us ask, seek and knock along different lines?  EXACTLY!

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps...Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. ”
— Proverbs 16:9 and 19:21, ESV

When I finally peeled myself away from Guru to give myself over to trust-abide-wait, I was able to hear God’s voice a lot better.  This hardware job surfaced during that time and I accepted it with full knowledge of its variable hours and meager pay.  While our bank account dwindled a bit, my wounded spirit was restored.  

In the last three weeks, two job opportunities were made known to me, both bearing God’s fingerprints. While neither were perfect fits, I applied for both.  The second one resulted in my next job that offers stable hours, better pay and a growth track I can pursue if I want to.

Now I have to break the news to my current boss and colleagues.  Store staffing is delicately balanced and my departure is going to upset that balance during our busiest season. After I accepted the offer for the new job, I decided to also trust-abide and wait for a couple days to seek God’s guidance about the conversation with my boss.  

I’m glad I did because God reminded me that my duty is to listen for and follow only him and let him take care of everything else.  

“He is before all things, and in him ALL THINGS hold together,” wrote Paul in his letter to the Colossians  (1:17, NIV).

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27, ESV)

God holding ALL THINGS together includes my boss and colleagues, all our customers as well as everyone at my new workplace.  Such “holding” as only God can do is behind Paul’s bold, “no stress” statement in his letter to the Philippians:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ”
— Philippians 4: 6-7, NIV

Ideally, obedient believers have no stress whatsoever when we follow the path the Lord opens no matter how unusual or irrational it may initially seem.  Even so, God recognizes that this life is far from ideal and we all are stuck in it to varying degrees. For our "stuck" moments," Jesus offered these words of comfort:

““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””
— John 16:33, NIV

No matter how stressed we feel about what we know we have to do, "Trust-Abide-Wait" is generally a great course to take.

I abide, God provides

Firewood yield from unexpected tree-trimmer visit

Firewood yield from unexpected tree-trimmer visit

I just happened to be home when a company contracted by our electricity provider pulled up to trim trees growing under electrical wires running along the back of our property.

“Would you mind leaving larger hardwood branches behind for our firewood?” I asked one of the crew members.

And just like that, my dwindling firewood reserve was replenished!  Several large branches trimmed from two large trees in ours and our neighbor’s yards produced two-plus face cords of hardwood.  Like ‘wood manna’ from above!

The sense of God providing rose in me as I marveled at the daring worker climbing high into the branches of our towering silver maple. After strategically fastening ropes to secure his safety harness, he tied off one of the large branches for safe cutting and transport to the ground with help from his crew below.

We burn wood for enjoyment, so God’s provision in this case was more along the line of fulfilling a desire of my heart.  (See Psalm 37:4, NASB).  Nevertheless, a caption popped into my mind for this moment, “I abide, God provides.”

Abide, as from John 15 where Jesus tapped into the agricultural mindset of his followers to paint a picture of how God’s kingdom operates.

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. (John 15:4, NASB)

A few sentences later, Jesus describes the destiny of cut off, no longer abiding branches - thrown aside to dry, be gathered and burned.  Except here I will gleefully re-purpose these dead branches for fire fuel to warm our home on a winter evening in the future.

No feature of creation is beyond the reach of our all-providing God, even death.  A fire’s ashes rejoin earth’s humus to spawn new plants and trees.  Jesus restored Lazarus to life after four days in the tomb and shortly after Jesus shared his abide principle, his own death would achieve the ultimate, providing event of all time - restored relationship with God!

Note the order and roles.  1) I abide. 2) God provides.

In 2011, I themed a Christmas ornament with this same “abide” message.  God has since worked abiding into my life. After drawing me through a season of waiting and learning to trust more in him, a “next phase” opened where I saw possibilities in developments I never would have considered before. I am still in that phase now, more accepting, even appreciative that the ways forward don’t often unfold as I plan or envision.

Linking my abiding with God providing also presumes that failing to abide dims my sense of God’s nearness.  “Abide-failure” tends to cause pride and urgency toward self-preservation to rear up in me. Counseled Jesus, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV)

“These things” include anything we ask God to provide. (See Matthew 6: 28-32, NIV).

Seeking and abiding is not standing still.  God’s first work for humanity was to tend creation as his image-bearers.  Working, serving and tending is often where God shows us new possibilities.

In God’s provision is also a caution not to allow our abide to descend to pride, especially when life is going well.  Unless I’m missing something, the Bible only sparsely connects our efforts with God’s provision.  More frequent is how poorly most of us handle bounty.

Abide elevates our thankfulness to the Lord whereas pride turns us inward, attributing provision more to our own efforts, intelligence, entitlement and ingenuity than to God’s shaping of situations that yield benefit for us.  Think about some of your greatest achievements and honestly consider how much you can truly attribute to yourself after discounting for other contributing factors over which you had little or no control.

Honestly acknowledging our lack of control over most of life can sink us to anxiety or draw us to giving Jesus’ abide invitation a try.  Abiding prepares us to recognize and give thanks when the “Provide” trucks arrive unexpectedly to replenish our firewood reserve!

Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good. His faithful love continues forever. (Psalm 136:1, NIRV)

See: 2011 "Abide in me" ornament