My pastor recently invited me to go with her to an upcoming speaking engagement of hers, where she’ll be teaching on the topic of abiding in His love. I love spending time with her, so I immediately agreed. After I got excited over the simple fact I’d be spending time with her, she then said something along the lines of, “If you have a blog post or something you’ve written that goes along with what I’ll be speaking about, let me know and we can possibly have you share it.”
I think my heart forgot how to function for a few beats following that statement…
My pastor has a truly beautiful heart, so even though she often causes a riot of butterflies to take flight inside of me when she says stuff like that, I tend to pay attention to it because I know what’s behind the invitation from her. She knows speaking in front of people makes me super nervous, but she also knows it’s something I’m called to do so she doesn’t let my nerves stop her from asking me to speak. God just keeps using her to give me the opportunities to stretch and grow in this area, gently moving me forward into who He has created me to be.
*Photo found on Pinterest
I didn’t really feel that any of my previous posts went with her specific topic. While I have shared about resting in Him and my peace being in Him, I haven’t written anything with the word “abide” in mind before. I began to feel nervous because I was putting pressure on myself to come up with something for her. I became performance-minded for about two days before my brain kicked back in and I remembered that I only ever want to write what He prompts me to, not what I pressure myself to write.
With the remembering came the surrendering - surrendering my blog back to Him, laying my gifts and talents at His feet, only wanting to use them for His glory, never my own. Where my thoughts had been frantic with trying to figure out what to write, I now have peace because I know that if He wants me to share something, He will supply me with the words to say.
This past Sunday morning after I woke up, while still snuggled in my blankets, I started planning and picturing how my day would go (..does anybody else do that?!) I wanted to take some time to be in prayer over the topic of abiding in Him, so I was picturing myself in our living room praying and asking God, “Do You have something you want me to share with this group of women? Is there a message I should pass on?” Now, I was picturing me doing this, sorta planning it out for the day (not the words, just taking the time to do it), but I wasn’t actually consciously praying in that moment - that didn’t stop God from responding though! He immediately gave me a brief vision while I was laying there…
I saw a beautiful garden that looked like something out of a fairytale dream,
the colors were so vividly perfect.
In the middle of this garden there were several small wrought iron tables,
where women were sitting and having a tea party.
When I focused on these women, their images kept flickering between adult and child.
One second I was seeing grown women and the next I was seeing innocent little girls.
They were all chatting and laughing, soaking in the sunshine and completely at peace.
This seemed such an odd and random thing to pop into my head that I asked God, “Is this from You or is my brain just not awake yet?” He gave me the confirmation that it was indeed Him, I wasn’t just coming up with crazy things in my sleepy brain (always good to know!) I felt like He told me that this was a picture of how it can be when we abide in Him, that it allows us to have that childlike innocence again. That innocence that allowed us to have faith that wasn’t hindered by our head-knowledge or any past experiences, nor by the often disheartening questions of “how?”, “when?”, or “what if..?” A child believes so easily, trusts so completely.
*Photo found on Pinterest, courtesy of capturingivy
Who did we invite to our tea parties when we were little? Our friends! Whether they were people or our stuffed animals and baby dolls, each member was a special guest because they were someone we wanted to share our time with. We wanted them to sit at our {kid-sized} table, drink our {imaginary} tea, and enjoy our {sometimes real} snacks. With the innocence of a child we bestowed invitations on our most beloved friends. That’s what God does too - He gives the invitation to sit at His table and enjoy His banquet treats to His most treasured friends. We are those friends.
Can you just take a second to let that sink in? He calls us Friend!
When I was doing some research on the word “abide” I saw that one of it’s synonyms listed in the dictionary is “remain”. I really love that word in relation to this topic. It’s when we remain in Him that we rest in a place of peace. He’s a shelter in the midst of life’s storms, where our joy and our hope are protected from the effects of life’s raging that’s happening all around us.
*Photo found on Pinterest
Abiding in His love allows us to truly rest. We are no longer slaves to fear or anxieties, because His perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18) When we remain in our Shepherd, we lack nothing. (Psalm 23:1) In Him we can have security in the knowledge that we are fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12) and loved with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3) How much freer would we live if we truly grasped these Truths?
I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t mention anywhere in this post how we abide in Him. We’re told in John 15:9-10(MSG), “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain (abide) intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done - kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.” Verses 12 and 17 say, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. … This is my command: Love each other.”
It’s that simple, yet that profound. Love. The greatest force in the world. Agape Love: selfless, sacrificial, unconditional. The highest of the four types of love in the Bible. It’s the way Jesus loves us. It’s the way we are called to love one another. It’s how we can live a life abiding in Him, remaining in Him.
*Photo found on Pinerest
The Party has been planned.
The guest list was made and your name is written on it.
The pen? A nail. The ink? His blood, poured out in love for you.
The invitations have been sent out.
They’re beautifully embossed with an image of a Man hanging on a cross.
The refreshments have been laid out.
The beverage is Living Water that will leave us thirsting no more (John 4:14).
The soul-nourishing treats of unfailing love, unending joy, uncontainable hope, and unexplainable peace.
The Hosts are prepared.
The Father, Son, & Holy Spirit eagerly anticipate dwelling amongst Their guests, Their friends.
You’ve been invited to come and abide with Him, to remain in Him.
To rest in Him with childlike abandon.
All is prepared, ready for you to enjoy.
The choice is yours whether you attend or not.
Friends, knowing everything He’s put into this party for us, I gotta ask…
why would we say “no”?
*Photo found on Pinterest
No comments:
Post a Comment