The way to abide, part 3

I hear it in her voice, thick with fear and discouragement. The people she should be able to trust most have disappointed her again. I don't need to see her face to know the hurt written there.

"What is God doing? What is going to happen to me? Why isn't the next step clear?"

We have gone around and around with these questions. Life-sucking, soul-draining questions. They pull us into the fearful place.

But somehow I find myself grinning. "Remember when you asked these very same questions last year? When you didn't know how God was going to provide? You were so afraid. And look what happened."

What happened is what always happens with God's children.

He was faithful.

He always takes care of us. Maybe not in the way we think He should. But always in the way that will draw us to Himself.

And when we abide in Him, when we come to Him and still ourselves to listen, then we remember.

Over and over He asks us to remember. And over and over we forget.

And maybe we forget because we are too busy or too anxious or too driven to be still? Or too hurt and sad and angry? And when we are not still we cannot come to Him. 

It starts with the coming, with the laying down of what we long to clutch tight. We lay our hearts and our hands right open to God, and we still our minds to hear Him even in the rush of the day.

It's like learning to breathe. 

We still and open and breathe deep, inhaling His presence. And then we remember.

Isn't He always faithful? Hasn't he always been wooing us, drawing us in? And looking back reminds us of His promise.

We are His.

He won't forget us. Ever.

He wants you to remember so that your heart can rest. He longs for you to know--to believe--that He's got it. Whatever it is you won't let go of. Remember that last thing? The one that worried you sick, kept you up at night, made you so afraid you couldn't breathe? He had that one too. Remember what He did?

Do you see His faithfulness?

Of course, we may be fighting Him so hard that we can't see the wooing. We're still stuck in our Plan. We're hurting and angry and frustrated and we don't know why.

Maybe it's OK to not know why? Maybe we need to let the pain scoop out the hard places, soften us to receive Him. Maybe we need to let go, open ourselves wide. Maybe we need to breathe.

When it feels too scary, look back.

Remember.  

When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
Psalm 63:6-7 

Day 15 of Abide: 31 Days of Resting in Him

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