Get Moving

“Earth has no sorrows that heaven can’t heal. Lay down your burdens…lay down your shame. All who are broken lift up your face…” Lyrics to Come As You Are by David Crowder

Most mornings it seems that I awake with a song playing in my head. Today, I did not. Instead, I woke up agitated. First of all, I couldn’t seem to fully arouse my self and I kept thinking how I wished the coffee were made. Troy took our sons fishing in Ely, Minnesota, so I have had time just to myself. Maybe that’s why I lingered; I didn’t have to get up and be the wife and mom.

Finally, with coffee in hand, I opened my morning devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. The title read, “Get Moving! Abide in me…”

I continued to read…

”Think of the things that take you out of the position of abiding in Christ. You say, ‘Yes, Lord, just a minute—I still have this to do. Yes, I will abide as soon as this is finished, or as soon as this week is over. It will be all right, Lord. I will abide then.’”

I pondered these words and knew them to be true. Just then my phone buzzed; one of our customer’s was reaching out with a question. I had a choice. I ignored the text and continued to read…

”Get moving—begin to abide now.”

I heard Rachel’s alarm go off.

She better get up or she is going to be late…

I looked back at the words on the page. Her alarm went off again.

“Rachel, get up!”

Our dog started to bark and whine to go outside. As I opened the door, Rachel said, “Mom, you seem frustrated.”

It’s because I am! 

Then, I realized that I didn’t even know why. I just woke up feeling out-of-sorts. With hugs to my sweet daughter, before she dashed out the door, I decided to go for a walk. I grabbed my headphones to listen to some worship music on Pandora. It froze up. I could feel my teeth clinching.

Abide in me…

After I got the thing to work, Crowder’s words filled my ears.  I walked on the country road with the light breeze hitting my face. A calm came over me–that is until a car approached driving too fast and came dangerously close to me; I had to jump out of his way. Then, after I had composed myself, a dog ran out of the neighbor’s yard and began to nip at my heels.

Abide in me…

I yelled, “Lord, I want to abide in you, but how am I supposed to with all these distractions?”

With a deep breath, I continued my walk.

”I’m always with you, Rhonda.”

It’s so easy to forget, Lord.

At that moment, I began to think about what that looked like. I laughed aloud imagining  Jesus walking beside me. I had on blue shorts, a red Nebraska t-shirt, a Predators visor (my man would have been proud) and white Nike tennis shoes. Jesus on the other hand, must have been really hot with those layers of robes. He could have used a foot washing and possibly new sandals too. The long hair glistened with beads of sweat.

I began to giggle.

”Oh Lord, In Your presence is fullness of joy.” Psalm 16:11

The turmoil within me was replaced with peace. So, whether faced with the smallest of distractions (like today) or heavy unspeakable burdens, Jesus has promised that He will never leave us.

Abide in Him. It’s a choice to do so. He is right beside you.