Remain
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:13-14
“Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-9
Insight
Becoming. Seek. Trust. Confidence. Hope. I have chosen words before that I desired for God to grow in my life in some way. I wanted my focus to stay on those words with the hope of spiritual growth in my life, with a goal in mind. I wanted to become more like Christ; I wanted to seek after the Lord in all that I did; I wanted to build an unwavering trust in God–full dependence on Him; I wanted my confidence to be in the person of Jesus rather than in myself; I wanted my hope to be in Jesus rather than in my circumstances.
Through the years, the Lord has taught me so much through the words that I have chosen. He has been faithful and true. As I prepared to choose a word for 2023, I felt stuck. In the season of suffering that I was walking through, my desire was to start a new chapter and move forward into something new. To start over.
But as I read the Bible and prayed about a word for the year, God so gently brought me to Psalm 27 and as I studied the scripture, verses 13 and 14 struck me as such a beautiful truth that gave me hope for the year to come:
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
Remain. I wrestled with this word all year. I wanted to step into something new, but it was instead a year of returning to God’s word, of finding stillness. Actively not rushing ahead to something new. Remaining in the word of God. Remaining where God has placed me. Trusting that remaining in the word of God will bear fruit. John 15 reminded me that it’s relational with God in this way, not only does Jesus remain in me but I am also to remain in Him and this is how I glorify God in my day-to-day life.
It’s the spiritual discipline of faithfulness where God has placed me, even if it is not where I want to be. Being still and seeking God in the moments of a challenging and painful year that I selfishly yearned to move on from.
But God reminded me to remain in Him. To remain in His word day after day after day.
I’m learning that long-suffering is an act of obedience to the Lord. Seeking joy amidst grief and seeking to honor Jesus through devastation and a broken heart is an act of worship to God. Remaining in his word is teaching me that.
Studying the faithfulness of God through scripture every single day reminds me every single day that God keeps His promises in His time. He is faithful. I can remain confident that I will see God’s goodness. But like Psalm 27 reminds me, it requires courage and patience for this obedience in the Lord. That is what He has been teaching me this year.
God requires obedience over time, faithfully abiding and remaining in Him, so you can see the fruits of God at work in your suffering over time. Last year, although it may not have looked the way I hoped it would from the start, brought beauty, joy, and growth all the same. God has been so gentle with me as He has blessed me with glimpses of answered prayers and promises fulfilled, just enough to sustain my hope in Him. He reminds me time and time again that remaining in His word is an act of obedience.
When I felt discouraged or frustrated with God and couldn’t bring myself to open my Bible and study the Word of God on the especially hard days, I would open my BIble app and listen to Psalm 27 read aloud over and over again. The psalmist’s faith in God throughout these verses became an encouragement to me and gave me hope in God’s faithfulness to me. A comfort to cling to. To remain confident in the Lord’s goodness. To simply remain.
Reflection
Where do you struggle to remain? What is causing this tension?
Prayer
Lord, remind me of your faithfulness. Remind me of your promises. Help me to remain in your word even when my circumstances give me doubts of your goodness. Help me to honor you as I learn to practice obedience over time and forgive me when I stumble or go astray. Lord, give me the courage to wait on you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Kayla Daughtridge, Grow Zone Volunteer Coordinator at the Wilmington Campus, wrote today’s devotional.