Sand Dunes and Sahara Deserts

What does my restless spirit know about abiding in Christ?

“Abide in me and I in you.” - 1 John 15:4

I am constantly on the move; my brain is always working; my thoughts move at a hundred miles per second; my body moves - I walk, run, jump, life with ‘rest’ days in between.

I am restless.

As hard as it is to come to a complete stop, I have learned that to abide in Christ, to truly remain in Him, you must slow down and understand the importance of waiting - waiting to hear his voice before I move again - because sometimes God can be as loud as a crack of thunder, but He can also be a word, a verse, a moment in a worship, a song and even a prayer from the mouth of another believer.

Can you believe it? Can you believe God exists in the prayers of His children?

How can a restless soul abide in a God who can use small moments to reveal big things?

Abiding in Christ requires being content with just being in the presence of God. No noise, no movements, no fireworks. 

Can you be content with just the presence?

It’s not always going to be bells and whistles with God.

God can work in quiet ways that can only be revealed if you would just slow… down.

Or maybe even come to a complete stop.

“By this, we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His spirit.” - 1 John 4:13.

Will you allow the spirit of God find a home in your restless heart?

Abide:

To wait

To remain stable or fixed

To be prepared for...

To bear patiently

Have you ever asked God to stop you from going too far?

Haven’t there been countless situations you walked into with full knowledge of the consequences? 

“It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle... but David remained at Jerusalem.”. 2 Sam 11:1

Have you stayed in a place you weren’t supposed to be in the first instance?

Why did David stay behind? The other kings had gone out to battle but he chose to stay back. Maybe he stayed back to rest and there is nothing wrong with resting but what have you opened yourself to when you chose to rest at an importune time?

When you rest during a season of work, you welcome restless thoughts. Restless thoughts sometimes lead you into making bad decisions.

“Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.”

David went too far. 

Have you ever gone too far with a bad decision? 

Maybe there were times you started with the best intentions and you had no idea you would end up where you ended 

But what about the times you knew what you were doing? What about the times you thought through the consequences and still went ahead to enter his home address into your uber?

Have you ever asked God to give you the strength to walk away at the very last moment?

David didn’t, and maybe his story would have ended a little differently if he had just taken a moment to ask God for the strength not to give into his lustful desires. Maybe. I don’t know. 

Maybe if I had stopped after the second shot of vodka, I would have remembered what happened during the cab ride to the hotel, but I didn’t. 

Maybe if I had prayed through that lonely night instead of calling him, I would have avoided the broken heart. Maybe.

Do I still have the Grace to go too far and hope for the best? 

My fear of being alone forces me into silence.

Sometimes I think my innocence is completely gone, but on some days, I’m like a little child — all bright-eyed and curious about life and everything I can experience with God. And then I snap out of it. 

I think it’s too late for me — I feel like I’ve become too informed and too raw. 

I feel as if the world took everything good from me, left me with all the bad stuff — walked away and left me to take care of myself. 

Have you ever laid naked and open before someone and wanted nothing more than to be clothed? 

Do you have flashes of who you were before that first kiss, touch, video or song? 

Do you have flashes of the words and thoughts you never believed would come out of your mouth?

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Phil 4:8 (NLT)

Because of fear, I have been naked more times than I’ve wanted to be; because of fear, I have kept myself hidden in situations where I should have been bold and free; because of fear, I believed purity was unattainable; because of fear, I have fixed my eyes and heart on the wrong ideas/words/thoughts/beliefs.

What has fear taken from you? 

How has fear silenced you? 

Have you ever imagined what would happen if you dared to walk in the boldness God has so freely given you?

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)