Breathe. Wait. ABIDE.
“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. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-7
My parents have a lake cottage on a small, beautiful lake less than two hours from here. There are boats and jet skis on this lake, and the cottage is tucked back in a cove which sometimes keeps us a little more “safe” from the action further out on the water. It’s serene. The skies are clear. During the work week it’s usually quiet. It’s my favorite place to go for a getaway.
And it was at this lovely, peaceful lake during one of our family vacations that my brother described me as a whirlwind. HA! My way of “lake-ing” is to walk, jog, kayak, bike, swim, paddleboard ... basically I don’t sit still well. I never have.
Coming in to 2023, the word I got from the Lord was ABIDE. He said this would be the year that I needed to learn to abide, and it would be a year of healing. I’ve been learning that those two things go hand in hand. Abiding is about relationships – staying close and connected, waiting, and enjoying the wait. Not rushing on to the next thing. It’s not my M.O.
For the past two years I’ve been dealing with high levels of anxiety. I know a lot of people have been in that place, and it’s not fun. It sucks the life out of you. Then God gives me this word to abide. Just stop, wait, let Him dig a little deeper, and let Him show Himself to me. This has to be such an intentional “activity”! I started taking my Sabbath really seriously last summer, but now I’m starting to learn ways to Sabbath throughout the day, every day. Sabbath is meant to slow us down, to help us breathe deeper and connect with God in a more fulfilling, honest way. It’s meant to put a hold on the distractions that tend to keep our attention. God needs us to abide – to sit, wait, dig down and let Him raise up in us the things that were meant to bloom but haven’t had time to be nurtured. From THAT comes healing – healing from anxiety and despair, addictions, idols, guilt, lies we’ve believed from others and lies we’ve told ourselves.
I’m learning ... slowly ... how to abide in Him this year. I’m taking some extended time off this summer to reset and allow God to heal me, and to put some new disciplines in place to keep me healthy going forward. Taking time to pause is humbling, and it doesn’t come naturally to me. The pause has felt like defeat a number of times over the last few weeks until I remembered that God set me up for this. He told me he was teaching me to abide, and that through this I would begin to heal. It’s all part of the plan. I can’t wait to see the fruit it will bring!