“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. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

John 15:4-7

The other day I was asking God to help me see where it is he wants me to be.  I asked him for further clarity on what he’s doing in a certain situation and where he wants me to go.. What next steps he wants me to take and before I could finish speaking, I simply heard the word “abide”.  Okay, God. Abide. I can abide.  But why and how do I abide?  On hearing his guidance to “abide”, it made me want to investigate further… What does abide actually mean?  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to abide means “to bear patiently: tolerate, to endure without yielding: withstand, to wait for: await, and to accept without objection”. So as I asked for guidance on where God wants me to go and what he wants me to do, his response was “abide”.  God is telling me to wait patiently without giving up.  God is telling me that in the uncertainty, to remain in him and withstand without resistance.  What a great reminder for the day and age we live in, as the world often tells us to keep moving forward, don’t stop, and keep hustling.  What a contrast to simply hear “abide”… to stay where I am at, an action we don’t often think of as being active.  The active part of abiding is simply remaining where we are at with God and not getting ahead of him. 

When God speaks to us and lays even just one word answers on our heart, that should encourage us to go to his Word and see where in his word he speaks to that and what else he wants to say.  When I hear abide, I immediately think of “abiding in God”.  Jesus says “Abide in me, and I in you.  As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” In reading this, Jesus is telling us that fruit will not be produced in our lives if we are not abiding in him; remaining in him.  God wants us to remain in him through the good and bad times.  He wants us to remain in him through certainty and especially through the uncertainty.  From remaining in Jesus, fruit is produced.  Fruit cannot be produced if it does not remain on the vine.  “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” 

With us being the branches, this means we are to be pruned.  AI defines pruning as a process that “involves selective removal of plant parts like branches, buds, or roots to improve plant health, structure, aesthetics.  This process can stimulate growth, remove dead or diseased tissue, and reshape plants”.  Jesus says that “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:1-2 While we remain on the vine, we are being pruned to be improved.  The pruning process brings greater health to the entire plant, which helps produce more fruit overall.  The removal of the unwanted parts while pruning may be painful and hard to remove, but it is to improve the overall plant. This is for our good. While the pruning may be painful, it’s not being wasted.  There is a purpose in the pruning.  This immediately makes me think of Romans 8:28.  While the pruning may be painful, may even feel like punishment, God is actually using it, cutting off unwanted branches, for our good.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him”.  Those who love him, those who remain in him, those who abide in God.  Throughout all we do in life, we are to abide in God because he knows what’s best for us. 

So as we remain in Jesus, even when things are tough, we are to remember that pruning is part of the “abiding” process. In pruning, there is also cutting off of branches, but that removal is for improved health of ourselves, for our good, to bear more fruit.  We are reminded to abide because in the pruning, we may be tempted to flee.  We may be tempted to walk away from the process, but it is for our good.  “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Therefore, strengthen feeble arms and weak knees”. Hebrews 12:10-12  What a sweet, sweet reminder to us who abide with God.  While the discipline or guidance from God may feel unpleasant, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace, or the ESV translation says “it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”.  Pruning, which can be unpleasant, yields fruit and this fruit is a peaceful fruit of righteousness.  But listen closely to the end of that verse… “to those who have been trained by it”.  To those who have been trained by it, to those who have remained.  If we don’t abide in God and stay where he has us, we can’t be trained by the trials, tests, and pruning he has set forth for us.  In order to be trained, you must remain and show up.  We abide.

Okay, God.  I’ll abide.  I’m here, I don’t want to go ahead of you, but remain in you and with you… I can abide.  But then I opened up a devotional on my shelf to the exact day and the verse was this: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”. Psalm 91:1  I’m telling you, when God wants to cement something in your head, he’ll give you many means to do so.  God doesn’t tell us that if we abide in him, we are granted freedom from pain, suffering, uncertainty, financial trouble, etc.  No, God tells us that when we abide in him, we will find shelter and a resting place in the shadow of the Almighty.  When we abide in Jesus, we have shelter and a place of security and protection amidst the trials and unwanted circumstances.  To dwell means to live or stay in a place permanently, so as we dwell in God, we are to remain under His shadow, in the safety of the Almighty.  If we aren’t abiding, we are walking outside of the shadow of the Most High and removing ourselves from his protection.  God wants us to abide because he knows the outcome of not abiding.  The antonym of abide is depart, so if we aren’t abiding, we are departing.  The only thing God wants us to depart from is sin, evil, wickedness, and the enemy. God wants us to remain in the shadow of Him because He knows that it’s the safests, most protective and secure place for us.  He wants us to abide in Him because He is our Father and knows what’s best for us.  Our best for our lives remains in Him.  Our best for our lives is produced when we are abiding in Him and Him in us, as we patiently await what he has for us.  Abide.