Relax and Let God be God – Learning to Abide in Christ

I think we sometimes understand our Christian faith as a battle rather than a relationship. Our language and songs often emphasise our ongoing battle against temptation, to overcome sin, and to fight onwards to reach our destination. But sometimes, we emphasise the combative elements of our faith at the expense of the roots of our relationship with God. We need to learn to Abide in Christ.

Learning To Abide in Christ

John 15 tells us that we need to abide in God. I’ve just returned from my Divisional Retreat, and this verse was a key part of my reflections during my time away. The sense of resting in God, abiding in God, and dwelling in God is at the very heart of what it means to follow Jesus.

Part of our discussions over the last few days included questions about whether we overlooked the importance of abiding and resting in God and instead focused too much on faith as a battle.

It is true that we must work out our salvation, as Paul says in Philippians 2. But it is also true that our strength lies not in our own achievement but in Christ. It is in our weakness, our dependence upon God, that God’s strength is shown.

We are saved by grace, so we may not boast in our work. We must resist temptation, not by fighting hard, but by falling back on the grace of Jesus. We might contest against the dark spiritual powers of this world, but we do so not through our own spiritual strength but by the promises of Jesus and the merits of the cross.

Abiding in Grace, Not Relying on Our Strength

We often like it when we can look at something we have done and go, “Yes, I worked really hard for this thing and see, here it is. I deserve it because I worked for it.” But faith doesn’t work like that. Grace doesn’t work like that. Instead, we need to be increasingly reliant upon the grace and strength of Christ, not trying to get away from it.

The goal of being self-made, independent, and strong is the lie that the world tells us. Instead, in Jesus, we learn that we are to become increasingly dependent upon God for our daily strength and the grace to overcome the world’s powers. Our fighting is useless and pointless without also being entirely dependent, entirely contingent, entirely and utterly rooted in the person of Jesus.

Abiding Means Learning to Rest and to Trust

I think being a disciple is less about struggling and striving and more about learning to rest. Learning to trust. Learning to abide. This is a much harder thing! It is not easier. We struggle to let ourselves be dependent. Or at least I do. This does not come easily to me, and I am sure the same is true for many of you.

But there is so much freedom when we learn to abide in Christ. When we learn that our faith journey is not dependent on our strength and striving, but in the grace of Jesus. In the strength of God. In the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

We need to learn to rest in the presence of God and let God be in control of our lives. When we can do that, we will find so much of our journey becomes easier and clearer because we are not getting in the way of what God wants us to do and to be.

Perhaps, like me, you needed this reminder that it is not in your strength that you follow Jesus, but always in God’s grace. Maybe you need to let go of some things you are carrying and pass it over to Jesus. Maybe you need to walk away from the struggles for a little while and just abide in Jesus, knowing that he loves you and is there for you and, through him, you will find victory in your life. Maybe you just need permission to rest, relax, and know that God is with you.

Then, when we learn to relax, to let go of control, to rest in God, to abide in the presence of Jesus, we will learn the freedom of the Gospel—freedom not only from sin but also from self. Then we will also find joy!

If you want to keep up to date, sign up to My Theology Corner Newsletter for a weekly lite-bite theology hit. Get short-form reflections from topics on the main blog and or on other interesting topics from that week.

https://chrisbutton.substack.com