2021 is coming

We are almost to the end of 2020, which some may say is a good thing, but I hesitate to rush eagerly into 2021.

For one thing, there's that old saying, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire."  Nobody yet knows the extent the impact of COVID-19 will have on the world economy.  The current regime change in United States government is unlikely to be helpful in that regard.  I am not particularly pro-anything, in terms of our government and the options it has been offering us.  Still, you have to admit that major changes are not generally a key to stability during times of crisis.  Providentially, the United States government is not particularly significant in relation to the vast eternal plan of the God of the Universe.  Even the entire world economy has no power over our God, who created heaven and earth, matter, space and time.  Humankind is prone to worship money and power and fame.  Humankind is prone to put faith in riches to buy peace, joy and health.  Humankind looks to earthly leaders for all these things as well, and when the powers of earth fail at knowing how to manage a virulent virus that nobody has ever seen before, people get angry regardless of what is done or left alone.  Nobody, absolutely nobody, is going to come close to pleasing everybody, and yet we are always looking for a gifted leader who will lead us into utopia.  We are always angry at each woebegone emperor, king or president who fails us, as all will, who attempt to perform in a role that is truly only God's.

God will teach us.  God is teaching us.  When we put our hope in the wrong things--governments, leaders, scientists, businessmen, economic systems--bad things happen.  Bad things are happening, and they will continue to happen, yet those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they shall not be put to shame, they will not be disappointed.

I've been immensely thankful for my word of the year this year: Abide.

I memorized a number of verses about abiding: 

John 15: 4 -- "Abide in me and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

Psalm 27:4 -- "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell [abide] in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."

And the one I think may be my favorite...

Psalm 91:1 -- "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty."

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I love that picture so much.  As we sheltered in place these last months, quarantining at home, quiet, alone, isolated, I pondered the shelter of the Most High, a high and lofty place (Isaiah 57:17), yet somehow, through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, a place that reaches down to both fill and surround me.  I take refuge in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 57:1), until the storms of destruction pass by.

Psalm 5:11 has been a similar comfort to me, although it does not use the word abide, or even the word dwell.  Still, it speaks of God's refuge and protection, precious gifts we needed so much this year:

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice.  Let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exalt in you.

Then it goes on, in verse 12, to say:

For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Refuge.  Protection.  Cover.  Shielding.  Shelter.  This is what God is for us when we abide in Him, when we make Him our dwelling place (Psalm 90:1).

We, in our weakness, take refuge in the perfect, holy, righteous and merciful God.  Although we are broken and full of flaws, He gathers us in, close to His heart, and washes us with the blood of Jesus.  He breathes His Spirit into us, bringing forth new life, new creation.  He plants His word and His ways deep into our hearts, transforming them into hearts that seek Him, desire His goodness, long for His Kingdom.  He does all these things.  He covers us with favor, with grace, because He has implanted His own righteousness in us when we had none of our own.  

He is everything.  

He is our breath; the very life that courses through our bodies comes only and directly from Him.  He creates physical life, and although--through sin--physical life has become separated from spiritual life, God is always at work putting them back together again as He redeems His people and implants His Holy Spirit into us.  He makes us alive.

He is the water of life, pouring Himself out over us, softening our ridges and enabling us to receive the seed of His Word of Truth, which is ultimately Christ Jesus the Lord, who came to show us the Father.  Wherever God pours out His Spirit, life grows and flourishes.  He makes us spiritually fertile.

He is our food, the nourishment of our souls, our daily bread.  We need to read His Word and listen to His voice each day, taking Him in, ruminating, swallowing, feasting on His great love.  He gives Himself to us to make us whole, to open our eyes to truth, to strengthen us so we can comprehend His incomprehensible love and thus be filled with all His fullness (Ephesians 3:18-19).  He makes us strong and full.

He is our shelter, our abode.  We dwell in Him and He in us, and He protects us, covers us.  He Himself holds the fate of our faith in His Holy hands, promising that not one of His children will be plucked away from Him (John 10:28).  He is the invincible tower of strength, the rampart around us (Isaiah 26:1).  He keeps us safe.

He is our clothing.  He removes from us our garments of sin and shame, and replaces them with the very righteousness of Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life of love and humility (Isaiah 61:10, Colossians 3:10-14).  As we wear this clothing and seek to walk in Jesus' footsteps, filled with His Spirit, we take on the beauty and nobility of Christ.  He makes us glorious.

Without Him we are like a dead branch, hanging loose in a tree until a storm knocks it to the ground and someone finds it and burns it up in a bonfire.  But when we come to the Lord, open our hearts to Him, respond to His love, we become treasured children, cared for with the utmost compassion and wisdom.

I have loved the word Abide this year.   It was especially helpful to me as I went through another cross-country move.  Where do I live?  I live in Christ.

Thank you, Lord, for leading me to contemplate what it means to abide in You.  When You help me learn to abide, You are gently teaching me humility and dependence, while You simultaneously comfort and protect me.  You truly are my hiding place, my fortress, my stronghold.  As such, because You are full of miracles and paradoxes, You do not sequester me, but You send me out, a vessel full of Your Spirit--in fact, by some mystery, Your abode--to touch others with Your loving power with which you have touched and filled me.  How can I possibly be worthy of this calling?  Only because You clothe me with Your righteousness and shine on me in order to shine through me.  I am filled with both gratitude and fear as I think about these things.   Help me remember that all things are possible with You.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Thank you for being all, and everything, and more than enough.  Amen.

I think my word for 2021 may be Listen.  I need to listen, listen hard, find out if this is right, find the way.  Lord, help me find the scripture that will teach me about listening as You would have me listen.