Remain.
“I will remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
(Psalm 27: 13-14)
“Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.”
(John15:4)
I was only a dog owner for a few days, but one trick that stayed constant throughout the endless YouTube videos was the command for “stay!”. Of course each video varied in it’s technique, but the idea is that an owner must immediately begin to establish the expectation that their dog will stay seated despite whatever instinct is telling him to move impulsively. This is most often seen around a dog’s mealtime. You know the drill. Owner pours food. Dog comes running. Owner says “stay”. Dog looks longingly at food, but is resolved to sit as obedience somehow rings louder than hunger (that’s a word for another day). Normally, the dog’s wait time is only a few seconds before his owner allows him to eat, and all is well.
Now, we may not have anyone forcing us to wait for a command to eat our food, but I believe we all could use a refresher on the command to “stay”. See, the dog is not in an isolated environment where he is without distraction. He hears his master’s voice but there is also the sight and smell of his food. If he’s in public, there may also be the distraction of people walking around and various noises. However, despite all the distractions, the word “stay” literally grounds him and makes him sit. In our lives, there are so many distractions! There are various versions of ‘truth’, ever-changing definitions of success, traps for comparison and sin, and the list goes on. There are tragedies and unexplained loss. There is injustice and a never-ending display of the wickedness of the human heart. Nevertheless, Jesus gives us this command to remain, or stay, in Him.
Throughout scripture, we see instances of the consequences of those who leap to action, ignoring this instruction. The children of Israel began to worship other gods and missed out on the promised land. Peter took his focus off of Jesus and literally began to drown. For us, some have turned away from the faith and find themselves wrapped up in the ways of this world. Have you been wondering why you can’t seem to stay at peace for more than a few hours or days? Are you trying to love your spouse well and find yourself still harboring bitterness? Do you lack the self control to stop sinful cycles? Jesus tells us that we cannot bear fruit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control- without remaining in Him. What if, instead of adding more books and conferences to your plate, you took time to sit and talk with Jesus? What if you turned off the news and deleted Twitter for a little bit, choosing to read about the character of Jesus?
God never said that the world would stop presenting distractions. In fact, if you’re waiting for that moment you will continue to be disappointed. But there is another option! Instead of being pulled to this care and that care, we can choose to remain. Despite the circumstances, we can remain in the One who never changes.
Prayer:
Hey God, this word was for me. I hear You telling me to focus on you but there is so much happening around me. My emotions tell me to jump into this, the culture tells me to care about that…I am tired. I don’t fully understand how to stay hopeful when there is so much evil in the world. I want to be like Jesus, but I don’t always know how. Please help me to remain in You. Please deepen my roots in this season so that no matter what comes, I will stay true to my devotion to You. Thank You for being consistent and trustworthy. Thank you for being my anchor in the storm. Help me to actually choose to hold tightly to your word, despite the opinions of others. Today I love You more than whatever else calls. I will remain. In Jesus’ name, amen.
