The Power of Abiding

The women's retreat at my church is coming up at the end of the month. This year's theme is the Power of Abiding and I've been thinking about how that idea might intersect with my own story. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that it has played a huge part in my story.

I was raised in a Christian home and became a believer around age four. There was rarely a Sunday I wasn't in church. Depending on the church we were attending at the time, I was usually there Sunday and Wednesday nights, too. I took the things I heard there to heart. I was earnest in my faith. There wasn't a memory verse challenge I didn't win. I read my Bible and devotional book every night before going to bed, without fail. If we listened to music in the car, it was probably one of the Psalty tapes (yes, tapes, cassette tapes) or, our favorites, GT and the Halo Express. I learned a lot of scripture that way and can sing you the Romans Road, among other things.

I don't say these things to try to make myself look good. Salvation is not about works. Nothing we do can change our standing before Christ. That's all Jesus. I just want to illustrate the presence of God's Word in my life. I was steeped in it. But I rarely had cause to need it.

And that is the power of abiding. Because if you've been diligent to abide in God and in His Word when times are easy, when the tough times come, you'll be able to draw upon that well and its waters will be deep. You'll be able to counteract the feelings of hurt and insignificance when you're rejected, with the knowledge that God "delights in you with shouts of great joy" (Zeph. 3:17). When you feel unloved, you'll remember that He says He "loves you with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3). When you hear your life will be shortened by cancer, you are reassured by the knowledge that you will live, even after death (John 11:25).

When times are easy, the words of the old hymns might roll off your tongue without you even registering what they're saying or what they mean. But when those tough times come, you can sing those same hymns with your eyes closed, the memorized words rich with meaning for you. And that is the power of abiding. Abiding stores up the supplies you'll need when times are tough. There is no way I could have gone through all I've been through without the scriptures God hid away in my heart. There's no way I could have trusted God to be faithful in trial after trial if I hadn't seen His faithfulness in smaller ways to me or in the stories of others.

Abiding doesn't mean it's easy, though. You may sing those powerful hymn words with tears streaming down your face because you believe them but just don't feel them right then, I did that very thing last night. You may cling to His promises but beg for faith to trust Him more because you just don't see how everything's going to work out. But you have a firm foundation. Abiding ensures that is built and that when the storms come, you won't fall down.