Thoughts from the Word Nerd...

I’m a word nerd. I’ll admit it. The most recent Bible I purchased was a word study Bible. I may never get another Bible again. (Don’t hold me to that.)

This weekend, I sat on the deck of my friends’ lake house, overlooking the water, scribbling furiously in my Sunday School book. I’d just read through the first part of John 15, where Jesus talked about the importance of remaining connected to God the Father. Given that repetition is one of the techniques God has used most with me in recent weeks, I am a little extra aware of it right now. And as I read through those first few verses, I noticed that some form of the word remain appeared nine times.

Nine.

I think that makes it worth noting.

One of the questions in the Sunday School book invited me to put in my “own words” what it means to remain. My own words? Forget that! I’ll just flip to the back of the Bible and see what the good old original language has to say.

Couldn’t believe what I found.

Here were the words used to define remain: dwell, endure, persevere, stand firm, remain alive, wait for.

I will admit to you that prior to this desert journey, I was very fickle about remaining connected to the Father. I’d go running to God when I had a problem…but I’d run right back to my own plan once trouble seemed a safe distance away. Well let me just tell you – a desert takes your breath away, and not in a good way. Remaining became the only way I could breathe.

But as I read through those defining words, I recognized the progress of my journey.

Dwell: I’ve been in this season of life for two months and one week. It has become a dwelling. It has become the place I’ve lived. Every piece of my life for those weeks has taken place in the desert. I didn’t get a vacation from it. Not even a weekend. I learned to remain by dwelling here. And while I know God doesn’t want me to build a house in the desert and dwell here forever, He specifically cautioned me against forgetting what I learned about dwelling here. When I move on to dwell in the Promised Land, I will again remain even though my dwelling place has changed.

Endure: That is a good word to explain many of the early days. I used to wake up and start counting the hours until I went to bed again. I endured work. I endured exercise. I endured one emotional and spiritual storm after another. I endured household chores. I endured obligations I’d made before I entered a desert. I endured. And in enduring, I learned to remain in the Lord. It was the only way I could endure.

Persevere: There were days when sheer grit and willpower moved me from point A to point B. I had to literally set my jaw, clinch my fists and make a conscious (and not always particularly gracious) choice to remain. Learning was hard. I didn’t want to learn. I just wanted to be done. I didn’t want to be an example – good or otherwise. I just wanted fixed. But in my determination, I remained in my resolve to be found faithful.


Stand firm. As time went along, I found my remaining was more of a desire than a discipline. Through determining to remain, I actually gained footing. The storms still hit me – furiously. But I had gained some strength and I remained in His will with great firmness.

Remain alive. At one point in the journey, God gave me the grace to start slowly living again. Remaining no longer required every ounce of concentration just to breathe or hold my ground. Remaining became a way of life. I could eat almost a whole meal …or walk an extra mile…or make my bed…or unload the dishwasher…or sleep until the alarm sounded just like old times. Except this time, I prayed while I did those things. I still remained. But I added the life back into it.

Wait for. Beth Moore writes about waiting not with drudgery…but with great hope and great expectation. And so as I remain, I do so while waiting for God to keep His promises. It’s actually really exciting! I can’t wait to see how He does it!

I probably will cycle through all these pieces of remaining again and again throughout my life. But I love knowing that whether I’m enduring or waiting with hope, I can be connected to His Spirit in a newer, deeper way.