Tethering Tighty
With a steaming mug of coffee warming my hands and the cool morning breeze washing over me, I cozied up in the oversized wooden chair on the front veranda of the cabin. The open porch belonging to our favorite in-country getaway spot allowed for the best view of the myriad of green and overarching branches.
I glanced in the direction of my children’s voices and giggles to find them sprawled out across the trampoline, already deep into a game of Dutch Blitz. Grateful for the reprieve this trip was providing, I sighed heavily in the moment of solitude as I gazed over the beauty before me.
A group of vervet and red-tailed monkeys were scampering up and down the trees, tall and stretching their leafy limbs towards the cerulean sky. Chasing one another and chattering alongside the trills and crescendos of countless birdsongs, they seemed carefree as they leapt from tree to tree — completely comfortable in the habitat they were created to thrive in.
While the monkeys scampered playfully above, my eyes were drawn to the olive vines running up weather-worn russet trunks as they ascended higher and higher. With the strength of their ruddy roots, they stabilized their upward growth with tightly-latching tendrils as they climbed towards the blue peeking through.
There, tucked under the shade of the speckled and flourishing canopy situated along the Nile River, my heart finally had a little more space to breathe, and a passage of scripture fluttered to mind.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
I pondered the verse in light of the countless reasons I had been feeling so worn thin lately, a slow weathering away of sorts — another round of malaria for both my husband and me, more goodbyes to dear friends, still unable to take a much needed furlough, an expanding ministry with new problems to be solved, and the recent progress made in our lengthy adoption process, meaning more paperwork to follow up with and gather. There were positive things interlaced with the draining ones, but they all seemed to be piling up as high as these sturdy trees.
Over the years, living abroad in a perpetual lingering has indeed taken its toll at times. I find myself sorting through the layers of grief, intertwined with the hope for the promises still to come again. I struggle with desiring to find some solution — get more sleep, make space to process, carve out a rhythm of rest, adjust my schedule in a season of exhaustion, and attempt to persevere through the trials.
And yet, deep down I know I’m not called to change my circumstances or to find relief from my struggles or weaknesses in this life. I’m called to remain steadfast in Him.
To dwell and make my home in Him.
To endure all things in Him.
To wait patiently in Him.
To continue on while clinging to Him.
He calls me to be tethered tightly to Him. Like a branch is to the life-giving vine, to find my source of strength in the roots of my true foundation.
When I think I have nothing left to give and my cup has all but dried up, He says otherwise. Glancing around, I see visual reminders of His goodness and guidance etched into the nature He birthed into existence at the beginning of time. Reminders that can encourage me to go back to the truth found in His Word.
He is the vine.
By shifting our focus to the true stability in this ever-changing life overseas — those overwhelming circumstances and weariness come with the territory — we can gaze into the heart of the one who first moved us to share His love in the world. He is the only one who can truly satisfy our souls as we grieve, give thanks, and sit in His presence. He is our source of strength.
You are the branch.
We don’t have all the answers, or the solutions to life’s challenges. We are welcomed to take part in building His kingdom but are not expected to do everything. We are branches extending from a source greater than our own limitations. There is a learning and growing in how to walk His way as we invite Him to guide us in our day to day.
If you remain in Him and He remains in you.
Remaining in Him is a daily choice, and some days we are more prone to wander. We can find ourselves searching for comfort in other areas, when His arms are waiting outstretched for us to be embraced in His all-consuming love. We know the Lord will never leave us, but do we dwell and find our rest in Him? He is our comfort, our peace, our joy, our provider, and our security.
You will bear much fruit.
Regardless of our weakness or weariness, struggles or moments of victory, in Him, we can and will bear fruit. If we stay connected to Him, in time we will see His fruitfulness in our lives. He can redeem all broken things, shape our hearts and minds to be more like His, tend to us in the trials, and bring us deeper in relationship with Him. The Lord is faithful to produce good fruit in our lives when we remain attached to Him.
Apart from Him, you can do nothing.
It’s not about us. It’s not about all the ways we serve others, our attempts to be productive and flexible, handle all that life demands, write uplifting newsletters, or fundraise for our ministry. If we function and minister from any place that’s not from His continual supply, we will inevitably come up empty. It’s a reminder that our first priority is to spend time with the Lord, and only then will we find the strength needed to persevere in the way He has laid out for us.
He is the firm foundation when all else is trembling, unsteady, and ever changing. Whether He guides us to remain or to go, in finding our security and hope in Him, we will continue to grow as He tends to us in the quiet, unspoken places of our weary souls. As we seek to stay tethered to Him, our lives can rest in the truth that He is more than able to do in us and through us all the things we can’t. He is the life-giving and sustaining vine, and we are the branches that He will continue to supply.
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* First published on A Life Overseas - https://www.alifeoverseas.com/tethering-tightly/
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