God's Plan: Abiding in Him

It's interesting when you think about it that Jesus' first greeting to the disciples was "follow me," so that He could go on and teach them how to be true fishers of men. He did not give them a 10 step plan, a calendar, or a survival guide of the weeks ahead. They didn't know that He would die on the cross for them or that He would rise again. All they had was his simple, open invitation and amazingly they took it. Maybe it was the novelty, maybe it was a disinterest in their work, but probably it was something tugging on their hearts. They had faith in Him and what He had come to do. But that's just an assumption.

Jesus says a lot of things that are oft quoted and just as often taken out of context. I like to call these little snippets Bible bites. However, there is one  call He gives I do want to acknowledge right now. In John 15 He goes through the analogy of the vine and the branches. His call is to abide in him -- to remain in him so that we may bear fruit.

Again the disciples do not have our foresight. He is closer to being betrayed, crucified and then rising again, but they don't know that. They don't know that most of them will be killed, persecuted and ridiculed for their faith. There only reference point is to abide in Christ. In reality that's all they need to know to bear fruit for the sake of His kingdom, but that is so very easy to forget.

It makes me think of when God reveals himself to Moses in Exodus and simply says I AM WHO I AM. He doesn't need to say more than that. He doesn't need to explain himself and we could never fully hope to comprehend him. He is the great I AM and that is enough. In the same way since He is the I AM we can take solace in knowing that if we follow Him and remain in Him, He will lead us on the path that He has for us.

We say that God is so often silent and absent and yet it is interesting that sometimes it seems so crystal clear that God is giving us an answer. It's just not what we want or what we were expecting. So often if their is a dichotomy in my a life, a fork in the road between what I want and the other way, God seems to suggest the other path. Doors so easily get shut, doors that I thought I would be walking through. There's the cliche voicing that when one door closes another one opens. It's true, but does that really act as comfort?

Again, I must keep reminding myself to abide in the I Am because He is enough. As it says in Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."

Even reading this verse just now inverts everything I have been thinking. Maybe it's not so much that one door closes and another opens. Those doors in essence do not matter. All that matters is that we let Christ in after hearing his voice. We have to open the door to him not vice versa. If we let Him in and remain in him, that is all that is necessary. His plan for our lives is the perfect plan because I AM WHO I AM and He will do what He will do.

Maybe that does not make the here and now any easier, but it certainly takes the sting out of one door closing. I already let Christ in through the door of my heart so what continues is the still arduous task of following Him. I trust that He has my best interest in mind and I can already attest to this being true.

All Glory to Him.