Abide

Abide: to bear patiently; to endure without yielding; to remain stable or in a fixed state

If there’s one thing I despise doing, it’s sitting around waiting for something to happen. This is especially hard when the thing I am waiting for is uncertain or unclear. So often, I am tempted to take action in order to bypass the “waiting” time and reach a quick result.

What I have learned to be true in these times of waiting is this:

I can’t bake a delicious cake in a microwave, I can’t become an expert from reading “Sparknotes,” I can’t run a 10k without extensive training, and whether I like it or not, I cannot fulfill the Lord’s call on my life without a season of waiting.

Perhaps not everyone is called to wait for the same amount of time, but I do believe that the Bible makes it clear that a plentiful harvest requires a time of planting, building, and, WAITING. As Jesus states in John 15:4, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

This passage has been challenging me deeply. While God has given me some vision and direction about what I am called to do during this season, I have surprisingly found myself in several instances where I don’t know what God is specifically speaking or what I should be doing. From this passage, I am reminded that to reach the next step, I need to abide in the Lord. I need to remain in His presence and patiently pursue His will, even when things don’t seem to make sense.

If you find yourself in a similar season, I encourage you to remind yourself of the value in waiting. A cake certainly tastes a lot better when it is cooked the perfect amount of time in the oven, a 10k is definitely a lot easier to run if it is preceded by extensive training, and the release of God’s purpose and will for your life is undoubtedly much sweeter when you choose to remain in His presence and allow time to grow.

I challenge you, as I am challenging myself, to ALLOW time to wait. If it seems like God is holding out on you, continue to pursue Him. Don’t lose heart and derail the process for a quick result. In due time, God will produce a harvest that is far better than you or I could ever achieve in our own time or strength.

Until next time,

Tamara