From Hiding To Abiding
There are many reasons why we may feel like hiding, but the central driving force is the feeling of inadequacy and hurt. So many of our actions are instinctive, that we may not even know why we do them. They are usually quick responses like the knee-jerk reaction. When we take offense to the way we are spoken to, we don't spend much time thinking it through, we just react! These are heart issues. When something someone does or says to us bruises our heart, it causes an instant, deep heart-felt, self-preserving, automatic reaction. Then after the incident has passed, it naturally causes us to respond in ways that will prevent that kind of pain again. We go out of our way to ensure we don't put ourselves in a situation that will allow our heart to be bruised again. The only trouble is, it is still bruised. It never healed! So the effort we take to control situations, put on a facade, wear a mask, hide or build walls of protection around ourselves, is counterproductive because now the hurt is inside us. If the hurt is pushed down inside, and allowed to remain, it filters every situation through a lens altered by our negative images and painful experiences.
Many of us deal with hurt in the same way I used to deal with my laundry. I always planned to wash our clothes but thought I would do it after finishing everything else on my list. The problem was I never did finish every on my list! My husband would come home in the evening and wash our clothes…but the rest of that story is for another time. If we push down the wounds we have suffered, thinking we will deal with it later, that hurt may be our lifetime companion. And deep wounds that are covered, often fester and spread when not attended to. But here’s the good news. We don’t have to deal with it, we only need to remove our own hindrance to approaching and remaining in Christ. He is everything we need, and knows how to heal our hearts. We must not allow our pain to keep us disconnected from the only true remedy there is.
We are told to “stay with Christ" and live deeply in Him. (1 John 2:28 MSG) John describes the process of abiding in John 15:1-8, in the example of the vine and the branch. Jesus is the vine and we are the branch. The branch and a grapevine have the same substance and DNA. They are one and the fruit is produced when the branch connects strongly with the vine and receives its nourishment and lifeblood from the vine. If the branch is diseased or detached from the vine, the sap does not flow to the branch, and the branch withers and dies. Our hurt and our insecurity are not the disease, but our unwillingness to yield it to God brings the disease of offense and unforgiveness. Our part is to fight against every obstacle, yield every offense, to continue walking with and following Jesus every day. Everything we are and do must flow from an abiding relationship with Christ or there will be no fruit. Abiding in Christ brings health & healing, which will absolutely produce wholeness, peace, and joy in you!
“Lord, please let your life-giving nourishment flow into my wounded heart and heal what’s been broken. I give you free access to restore, redeem, renew and revive my spirit. Lead me in Your way and show me how to walk this adventurous path of freedom, forgiveness, and wholeness with You. Amen.”
—Tami Gaupp—