An Invitation
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me
“I am more satisfied with my illusion of results rather than actual conformity to Christ’s image.”
I have a hard time slowing down. My brain is often tightly wound; my steps are quick, which leads to a lot of clumsy mistakes; my focus is rushed, which produces failure to recall details from conversations. My movements are hurried and often result in forgetting my belongings as I go from place to place. As the kids used to say, “I have no chill.”
This is my flesh’s default. I have checklists and to-dos and am very task-oriented as I approach conversations with those I’m investing in. If I’m honest, I am more satisfied with my illusion of results rather than actual conformity to Christ’s image.
The issue has and will always be communion. I somehow scripturally justify having an Ephesus mentality and approach (Rev 2:4) and in doing so, I become more and more indifferent towards leaving my first love.
If you are also struggling with this kind of “works-based sanctification,” right away I urge you to stop. Slow down. Look at your feet, and acknowledge that the lamp of God’s word has ceased to illuminate them. Identify now that the path you are on is not being lit by the glorious and precious promises of his precepts (Psa 119:105). The way back to true communion begins with repentance. This is where I had to start.
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away
Change and decay in all around I see
O Thou who changest not, abide with me
“You can’t expect to meet with God if your heart is not prepared to worship him.”
After repentance, I had to take a serious look at my quiet time with the Lord. I started here because I knew that if God’s word was not dwelling in me richly (Col 3:16), then there would be no power, no life change, and no glory attributed to God in my life.
Quiet time was an area of my life I had made pretty boxy and structured, very dependent on me and my ability. If I met my expectations for quiet time, it would be a great day. If I overslept, felt rushed, or missed it all together, I would conclude it to be a challenging day that I would have to muster through. This sounds so silly and immature...and that’s because it is. This is coming from someone who’s discipled faithful women, who’s walked with the Lord for over a decade, who has led a Bible study for almost five years, and who is admitting to you now, I STILL actively struggle with quiet time. I have realized over the years, however, that the reason for my struggle is often because the emphasis is on me rather than him.
The place to begin and end has to be prayer. I discovered this when I was confessing my lack to my husband. He listened to my woes of discouragement then stopped me: “Lisa, you have to engage your heart,” he concluded with care. “You can’t expect to meet with God if your heart is not prepared to worship him. You’re trying to meet with him when your heart is still hardened and asleep.”
Pastor Dan helped emphasize this point following his lecture in Pastoral Epistles. Prayer produces a lasting lifestyle that is good and acceptable to God. Prayer puts me in remembrance of God’s faithfulness and his heart for all men to know him. Prayer properly aligns my priorities to his. Prayer goes beyond just what I need: it is more about my constant walk of intimacy with him.
Practically, it looks like waking up and talking to Him. Telling him how much I want to hear from him today. Playing worship music and singing scripture and his promises back to him. I’m a teacher and child at heart, so sometimes it involves me grabbing a children’s Bible story from the shelf and reading the simple truths to myself before engaging in his Word. Prayer and true communion have awakened my heart. From that place, I am ready to be searched and known, to be challenged, and to respond in obedience to the words I receive from him.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me
“Study the nail-pierced holes in his feet as you sit at them daily.”
Think about your motivation. Do you find yourself in cycles of shame because you feel like you’re not doing “enough”? Does your time in the word feel forced? Do you feel defenseless when trials arise and vulnerable to attack when it comes? The solution is simple but not always easy.
Commune with Him.
He, as a loving husband, will never force intimacy. He will knock, he will wait, he will pursue constantly, and we are given the choice to respond. Your response to his time with you can not be about “doing more” and know now that it will not produce “results” as you know them to be. But it will produce love. It will produce the fruit of the Spirit of God. It will produce surrender. It will produce a burden for lost souls. It will produce a yearning for more time with him. It will produce a life worth living and love worth dying for.
Sit with your face in his word. Meditate on it, cry over it, ask God for his Spirit to make it alive in and through you during your day. Choose fellowship with him above all others, even if to them it looks like you’re not “doing enough.” Mary chose the good part in Luke 10:42, and it was not taken away from her. Become acquainted with the lines on his face as you discover his word. Study the nail-pierced holes in his feet as you sit at them daily. Our eternity will be spent beholding the beauty and glory of our Savior, so let’s start right now.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee
In life, in death, o Lord, abide with me
Abide with me, abide with me
Lisa Cheadle is a discipler and leader in C&YA, and supports her husband Myles as the directer of Friends of Internationals. She leads the Preschool class in Kidtown and a Women’s Bible study in North Kansas City.