i was uploading pictures...

and i used a form of the word "wait" twice in one sentence of the photo description. so i did what any self-respecting person would do. i looked it up in the thesaurus. ok, not really in the thesaurus...at the thesaurus. it gives not only the synonyms of "wait" but also ones for select related words.

one of those was "abide."

this word has always carried to me a connotation of staying with something. you know: "abide in Me," "faith, hope, and love abide." they keep going. they continue.

the definition here was different. "to stop temporarily and wait for," it said.

i'm pretty sure i blinked.

because you know what that means? that means that abiding doesn't look like me running to stay abreast with God. it doesn't look like me striving to be where He is or fretting about finding His path. abide doesn't look like that.

abide looks like me letting go of my agenda and compulsions and worries - even the ones for "good things" - and listening for His stillness. it looks like me sitting at His feet and drinking in His words. it looks like me stepping back from my busyness and following His purposeful prompting.

this message has been coming to me in different ways all summer long.

and so after i blinked, i smiled. chalk one up to God.