I am reminded of how important it is to abide with God as my husband and I just made it through Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene. During Hurricane Milton, I kept thinking that the winds and the rains would break through the windows.

Hurricane Milton

For awhile, we heard a banging on the one of the windows and when we got up to check, found out that some of the vinyl siding on our home had come loose and was hitting the window.

My husband had to go outside in the dark, windy rain and stand on the AC unit to get high enough to cut the vinyl off in order to solve that problem. That was early in the night and it seemed like I was in constant prayer most of the night. Fortunately, we were inland and not near the coast and managed to survive without too much damage.

Additionally, Our move is delayed by a few days and we weren’t sure if we were even going to be able to get a trailer, in spite of our reservation, because all those who were evacuating had scooped up many of the trailers.

So, we spent a lot of time just waiting and wondering “What’s next?” How will things work out?

I don’t know about you, but I am very much a “doer”. Patience and waiting do not come naturally for me. But the truth is, unless we slow down, listen, and “abide” with God, we can’t really do anything of value.

Abide with God

We aren’t meant to do this life alone. We are meant to do it with God, like it was in the Garden of Eden before the fall. They walked and talked with God in the garden before they sinned. However, ever since then, mankind has been trying to do it alone.

I received the devotion below a while ago and it reminded me that I need to lay down my self-dependence and self-effort. Instead, I need to remember to rest in Him and let Him lead. The only things that really matter are those that grow out of my relationship with Him.

Abide With God by Worthy Devotions

How do we produce much fruit? What is the Lord saying?

In the modern world, the work ethic is, achieve and produce by working longer and harder! The focus is on getting results through human effort — we’ve become product oriented and the bottom line is……the bottom line! But God’s way runs contrary to this approach — His way is much more oriented toward process and relationship rather than performance and production. He IS interested in results which He calls “fruit”; but not by pushing or egging us on to work harder or longer.

The Lord’s way is to work with and through us so that every result or product comes out of our abiding in Him, since without Him WE CAN DO NOTHING.

This is opposed to of the culture we live in today, and to human nature in general. Think about it — we’re constantly bombarded with self-help books promoting self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-control — our society is all about SELF! But God’s way of success produces the results which He values; results which are not produced by self-effort, but which grow out of an intimate relationship with Him, in which we seek to constantly abide.

The only way we can become abundantly fruitful is to understand the Lord’s fruit-bearing process. As we lay down self-effort, our natural human independence, and seek communion with Him, abiding in the Vine, then His power, His will, and His desires will be realized in our lives, which then, will bear fruit that remains throughout eternity!

You can check out more from Worthy Devotions here.

Lyrics to Abide With Me Hymn

I want to share the lyrics Abide With Me Hymn because there are so on point and, I don’t know about you, but they bring me comfort.

If you want to check out the hymn, Abide With Me is available on Amazon by various different artists. Here is a link to some of them.

Conclusion

As I write this, I am on the road somewhere between Florida and Colorado in truck with my husband and a squirrely cat who doesn’t like to travel so, obviously, God was good. He protected us during both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton and we got our trailer only a few days late.

Compared to what other people are going through, I count myself very blessed. By the way, Alex, the cat, is doing surprising well and is curious about everything. He stopped meowing (mostly) after the first few hours or so.

If you are looking for other ways to Abide with God, I recommend checking out the music selections above on Amazon. The Lyrics to Abide With Me Hymn are so beautiful as well as the versions above.

Also, head to my books page for some great devotions including Finding Peace in Jesus: An Encouraging 30 Day Devotional, My Heart, Christ’s Home: 100 Days of Joy and Strength in Jesus or Loving Jesus: A 30 Day Devotional.

You may also want to check out Discover Your True Identity: A 52 Week Guided Prayer Journal

This site may contain links to affiliate websites including Amazon and I will receive an affiliate commission for any purchases made by you using such links but at no additional cost to you.