Abide: Going to Egypt

ABIDE 

I ended up in Jeremiah this week.  The people ask Jeremiah to ask God what they should do in a difficult situation.  After promising to do whatever God says, Jeremiah returns with this good news:  

9 And said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.   Jeremiah 42:9 

Honestly, what an amazing promise!  

However, God knows his people well and follows this with a warning about going to Egypt. Egypt is the people's plan for safety.  They can go, but He will not be with them.  They must stay put - abide - where He is and trust His promise.   

Here's the deal - the people didn't really want God's protection or his thoughts about the situation.  As Jeremiah says 

20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you. 

They knew the "right thing" was to pray, but the people had no intention of abiding in God's commands.  They already had a plan and were going to do it in their own strength. 

Wow!   How often do I do that?  God is saying I will protect, care, provide for you - just stay here, even if it is a bit scary.  Instead I decide I need to travel somewhere else that looks safer in my own eyes.  Somewhere so that I can do it on my own.  

So abiding is about being with God - even in difficult places- maybe especially when it is tough, trusting that He is with us and will care for us.  

We also need to pray and be willing to do what God says.  He knows if we already have plans and are just doing it for show.  It is not pleasing to him.  

Am I abiding where he put me (even if it is a foreign place) or trying to move to Egypt?  

2016 Word - ABIDE

Abide. 

That's my word.  After I looked it up in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary I wanted a different one.  I am much better at flitting about (thus the bumble bee nature of Melissa).  Last year's word was yoke. I was challenged to burn the old yokes (like Elisha did to follow Elijah) and learn from Him. This year I will see what it means to ABIDE. 

Honestly, I haven't even done the concordance search on the word yet (the John passage comes to mind, but last year the yoke passage that struck me most wasn't the Matthew one) - I will do that over the course of this month.  Here are some of the phrases from the 1828 dictionary: 

to be, exist, continue
dwell, rest, stand firm
continue permanently
to wait for
to endure or sustain
to bear patiently 

If you know me these are not things I excel at.  I am not good at just being - give me something to do! At least let me talk about it a good long while. God has continually laid it on my heart that I need to just rest, wait, stand firm.  So this year I will be reflecting on what it means to abide in Him and with others.  It sounds to me like a lot of inside work and not much happening on the outside - uggh - can't I just stay busy and look like things are going well!   

Alas, for my growth, and since my kids are mimics (did you hear Andrew Kern talk about that whole theory that combats Freud - fascinating), I need to learn this type of living so that they can "catch" it from me.   Plus, if mama can find peace the whole atmosphere changes.  

I think this also ties with the fact that we have a new "abode" that God has challenged me to really make a home - a place of rest, peace, grace, renewal, etc.  Right now, it seems mostly like a place where little boys make messes and frustrate each other.

So this year, maybe, I will "get" what it means to abide in Him and with the people He has placed in my life.