The Depths of Abiding

To abide means to stay; remain; wait patiently for; remain in one place or state; rest satisfied with. Wow! How many of us rest satisfied with God? It would be easy to thrust your hand up and say, "I do, I do!!" Really? I think many Christians would say they know God and relate to Him on varying levels throughout the days, weeks and months of their lives. However, being in relationship with God and abiding in Him are two different realities. As I ponder this, I can think of just one person I know who exhibits the tell-tale signs of true abiding. This dear woman is in her eighties and is a giant of a Christian. She truly lives moment-by-moment in a bubble of His Presence. In fact, I have never known her to leave it. She rests satisfied with Him in a way that arouses a voracious hunger in me to know the very same. I have known Him for 25 years, but abide in Him? I am sad to say that those moments of true abiding, of the prevailing awareness of Him above all else, well, they are few and far between. But I am heading there! My gaze is set on the land of abiding, where the only shadow is that of the Almighty. To stay there, unruffled by the winds of circumstance, waiting, remaining, sojourning, resting satisfied...it is His high call.