Sweet Reminders

I am so thankful for the people in my life who constantly remind me to rest in Christ. The lesson has continued to crop up this week...every time I start to forget the lessons I have learned, something or someone reminds me. Last Sunday, our lesson in Endeavor was about abiding in Christ. These verses continued to come up this week in my times with the Lord and in the time with my friends:

John 15: 9-11 "As the Father love Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."

Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth."

John 17:24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am."

Christ's desire is to abide with me. Abiding, being still...so much easier said than done. It means to rest in Christ, in who He is and what He has promised. When we are doing that, when we are completely surrendered, we remove ourselves from the equation and give the Lord so much more room to do amazing things in and through us.

This summer, the Lord really broke me and worked in my heart in the area of being still before Him. I am someone who has to constantly be moving, constantly have a purpose, constantly be doing something with my hands and my mind. My senior year of college was stressful. I left a very angry, bitter, hurting girl. While at Focus, I met with Mrs. Ogden, a woman in her eighties who helped to found the Institute for college students. She wanted to know my story (the classic question from this summer) and I told her about failing to get into grad school at Tech and some things I had faced over the last year. She got angry for me, she laughed with me, she sought to help me find direction...and then she prayed for me.

She told me to bow my head and listen to God while she prayed for me, and then I could tell her what God told me. I am so terrible at being still before the Lord and just listening. So I prayed one of the most honest prayers I have ever prayed. I told the Lord I needed Him to tell me something in the next couple minutes, I didn't care what, because I had to tell this lady something when the time was up. So I sat quietly and just tried to listen. Song lyrics started flooding my head, such as,

"When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrow like sea billows role, whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, it is well with my soul."

"Rest my soul in Christ alone, know His power in quietness and trust. When the oceans rise and thunders roll, I will soar with You above the storm. Father, you are King over the flood, and I will be still and know You are God."

"I will praise You in this storm."

I remember thinking, "Seriously, God? I really need You to tell me something." So I got quiet again and the same lyrics flooded my mind. It was then I knew what God was trying to teach me. This lesson to be still before Him will be a lifelong process for me, but I am thankful that the people in my life, especially those that God used to soften my heart from this summer, are there to remind me the lessons God has taught me when I lose sight of His peace and focus on the waves. He calms my storm. Rest in His promises to you today. Being still is a conscious practice. It is daily surrender!

Being still before Him,
Kar