Abase and abound

It has been a brief season of sweet rest.  Though nothing has happened to change it, I can feel my heart being pulled again.

I can feel the possibility of decision and change coming.  My heart has ached with raw emotion the past week…a constant recommitment to a path that is different than once hoped.  A decision to be glad in spite of sorrow.  Such a good decision, but never easy or without that raw feeling of new skin on a changed heart.

I’ve learned that asking, seeking, and knocking mean different things than I once thought.  “Knock and it shall be opened…” It doesn’t always mean that if you ask, you will be given.

“What man among you, having a son, and he shall be standing out, and shall say, Father, open thy house that I may come in and sup with thee, will not say, Come in, my son; for mine is thine, and thine is mine?” – JST Matthew 7:17

I think that, instead, it means that if you knock, whatever the answer is, it will be what brings you in to Him.  Sometimes, that may be exactly the opposite of what you asked.  But you will be with Him.  And that, above all, is where I want to be.

“…for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” – Phil. 4: 11-13

I’ve been thinking a lot about Paul and about what he said about knowing how to both be abased, and how to abound, about living fully, whatever comes my way.  It is a gift to know how to fully humble and submit, and it is a gift to know how to accept abundance and enjoy it in its moment.  The greatest gift is to do both at once, for they are twinborn.

Be full with what you have…be hungry for what you lack or long for that brings you in to Him.

Knock and it shall be opened.

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