Don't be the moth

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

meno`: abide

I. to remain, abide


    
     A. in reference to place

          i. to sojourn, tarry

          ii. not to depart

               a. to continue to be present

               b. to be held, kept, continually

     B. in reference to time

          i. to continue to be, not to perish, to last, to endure

               a. of persons, to survive, live

     C. in reference to state or condition

          i. to remain as one, not to become another or different

II. to wait for, await one


The moth's wings fluttered frantically in the water, spinning and whirring as the tiny creature tried in vain to reach the edge of the pool. I couldn't bear to see even this small life snuffed out before my eyes, so I quickly scooped the moth up and deposited it on the concrete pool deck.

My five year-old daughter watched with interest as the bewildered bug flittered about, then walked right back down to the edge of the pool where it lingered, dangerously close to the water.

"Mommy, why does the moth keep coming back to the water?"

"I don't know, sweetie. He just doesn't want to stay up there where it's safe, does he?"

I felt a little miffed with the moth, whose life I had just saved, for so thanklessly throwing my gift away. I felt frustrated with its foolishness. Couldn't it see the danger?

I know. It was just a moth. But still.

Thing is, I'm just like the moth.

It's easy (sometimes) to be with Jesus. To start the day with Him, curled up with my blanket and my tea and my warm thoughts for the day. Early in the morning life with Him seems real and close and possible.

It's the staying with Jesus that's hard.

Usually my thoughts stray from Him as soon as the first child wanders down the hall and demands breakfast. By the time I get everyone fed and out the door He is often banished for the rest of the day, replaced by the whirlwind of tasks and responsibilities and people.

I'm too busy trying to serve God to have time for God.

But it's possible to serve Him--and serve Him well--while remaining in His presence continually. Abiding. It's not only possible. It's what He asks of us.

Brother Lawrence was a 17th century monk, poor and uneducated, working as a soldier and then in the kitchen at the monastery. A humble life if ever there were one. But he knew the secret of abiding, and his simple rest in God changed his world--and mine. In his amazing little book, The Practice of the Presence of God, he shares how he "arrived at that habitual sense of God's presence":

I renounced, for the love of Him, everything that was not He; and I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the world. Sometimes I considered myself before Him as a poor criminal at the feet of his judge; at other times I beheld Him in my heart as my FATHER, as my GOD: I worshipped Him the oftenest that I could, keeping my mind in His holy Presence, and recalling it as often as I found it wandered from Him. I found no small pain in this exercise, and yet I continued it, notwithstanding all the difficulties that occurred, without troubling or disquieting myself when my mind had wandered involuntarily. I made this my business, as much all the day long as at the appointed times of prayer; for at all times, every hour, every minute, even in the height of my business, I drove away from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thought of GOD.

Such has been my common practice ever since I entered into religion; and though I have done it very imperfectly, yet I have found great advantages by it. These, I well know, are to be imputed to the mere mercy and goodness of GOD, because we can do nothing without Him; and I still less than any. But when we are faithful to keep ourselves in His holy Presence, and set Him always before us, this not only hinders our offending Him, and doing anything that may displease Him, at least wilfully, but it also begets in us a holy freedom, and if I may so speak, a familiarity with GOD, wherewith we ask, and that successfully, the graces we stand in need of. In fine, by often repeating these acts, they become habitual, and the presence of GOD is rendered as it were natural to us. Give Him thanks, if you please, with me, for His great goodness towards me, which I can never sufficiently admire, for the many favours He has done to so miserable a sinner as I am. May all things praise Him. Amen. 

It begins with the desire to be with Him, and it continues with the discipline. Habits are formed by constant repetition. We must decide to talk with Him, deliberately seek Him, purposely set aside those thoughts that take us from Him.

So often I let my day just happen to me. I allow the thoughts to roll over me like waves, carrying me in their wake, and I may or may not end up in a good place. But what if I choose my thoughts? Perhaps if I set the course of my mind, my day will follow?

Beginning the day with Him and then remaining there.

The trouble is, this kind of living takes time and effort and practice. And it is too easy to push it aside for later, too easy to be swallowed up by the black hole of busyness.

But what if we actually get serious about our faith and put Him first? What if we really, truly make Him more important than the laundry and the meetings and the workouts and the lawn and the paperwork and all the thousand thousand things?

I'm convinced great things will happen. I have seen it. So has Brother Lawrence.

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with GOD: those only can comprehend it who practise and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive; it is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because GOD would have us. 

Let's decide now. To begin our days with Him and then stay there. To remain. To abide. To practice the presence of God. It will take practice, after all. And we won't be very good at it at first. But I think it will be life-changing, and also very, very fun.

What will you do to practice His presence today?

Day 3 of Abide: 31 Days of Resting in Him. See my other posts here.