The Slower Rhythms || Abide
Part 2 of 4 - check out Part 1 here.
When I first wrote read about the “slower rhythms” in September of 2016, I thought I saw a storm ahead in my life. What I didn’t see was that the words of the book Uninvited were like a preparation manual for what would lie ahead - the storm of utter rejection.
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Finally in December, the storm hit full force - rain, gusts, hail, damaging winds, flooding...you name it, it was there. When the calendar flipped, I started taking the rejection, the hurt, the frustration and putting it into work. I’d go in at 7 and leave at 8. I skipped lunch. I cried….okay I sobbed - A LOT. Yes, my workload was heavy, but I was purposefully running the rat race to keep my mind off of the “hurricane relief” needed in my life.
One night I sat on the floor of my room at my grandparents’ house thumbing through my old journals trying to find something to save me from the flood flowing in my life. And I found this:
Since my fast-paced chase had gotten me into this mess, I knew it would take slow moments to get me out of it. I needed to reconnect with the One who knows how to breath life and love back into depleted and dead places. Jesus doesn’t participate in the rat race. He’s into the slower rhythms of life, like abiding, delighting, and dwelling - all words that require us to trust Him with our place and our pace. Words used to describe us being with Him.
--Lysa TerKeurst, Uninvited
I made a commitment to it. I made a commitment to learn about it and pray about it. I made a commitment to truly study it.
When I have “Spiritual ADD” - when I’m running like mad, when I’m unfocused, when I’m forgetful - I have to go to ADD...abiding, delighting, and dwelling.
And in spending weeks studying these three words, I discover that abiding is the launching pad for the other two. Abiding leads to success in delighting and dwelling.
To abide is to accept or to act in accordance with.
The first verse that came to mind was this:
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
--John 15:7 (NASB, emphasis mine)
1 - When I align with Christ...
If we don’t align with Him, we can’t abide in Him.
Alignment with Christ begins with Christ Himself. That’s how he starts, “If you abide in Me…” Alignment with Christ begins with acceptance of Him - acceptance that He is Lord, Savior, Messiah.
Then, He says that alignment with Him continues with His Word. We begin by accepting His Word as Good and of Him, then…
2 - ...His Words will reflect in my actions….
...we must act in accordance to His Word. Once we align with Him and we understand who He is and what His Word says, we must put our “faith into action.”
Faith and deeds go hand in hand. For our faith to be put into action we need to make sure we are focused on the right believing.
-- Vous Church (read more here)
3 - If I align with Christ and my actions reflect His Word, whatever I ask will be done….
I don’t know if I’ve ever been perfectly successful at 1 and 2. Nothing I ask has ever been exactly what I expected. But when I dig into His Word, when I open my ears to His Voice, when I allow His to have control, when I ask for help, ask for rescuing, ask for peace - I get it.
Actually, I usually get more than I expect or get something different than I thought I needed, but it was more than I could have imagined.
When I pray for more patience, I get a challenge that teaches me that patience, instead of supernatural patience at a snap of a finger. When I want an answer to a problem, it usually comes from some unexpected place or person, not just an audible voice that says, “do this.” But God answers.
And all of this can be done….
4 - ...because my heart will be in line with His.
Our requests are perfectly fulfilled, as promised in John, because we are in line with Him. My agenda, desires, passions, wants are really His agenda, desires, passions, and wants because I’ve aligned myself with Him.
When there is no longer “my things” and “His things”, and there are just “His things” our requests are a reflection of His Will. Our requests, then, are answered in our favor (or rather His favor).
Abiding takes (2) actions - acceptance and action. The results of abiding are:
Answered Prayers (John 15:7 NASB)
Discipleship (John 8:31 ESV)
Fellowship with God (2 John 1:9 ESV)
Love/His Love (John 15:10 ESV)
Obedience (John 15:10 ESV)
Salvation (2 John 1:9 ESV)
When I align with Christ, His Words will reflect in my actions. If I align with Christ and my actions reflect His Word, whatever I ask will be done because my heart will be in line with His.
