Learning to Abide

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This Sunday, we sang the invitational hymn “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go.” The lyrics are:

Take up thy cross and follow Me/ I heard my Master say/ I gave My life to ransom thee/ Surrender your all today/ Wherever He leads I’ll go/ Wherever He leads I’ll go/ I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so/ Wherever He leads I’ll go.

I quickly realized that no matter how many times I hear this simple hymn, its lyrics always challenge me. It’s an easy song to memorize and sing, but the words “wherever He leads I’ll go” feel more like a call to action than just another line in a melody.

Because what if God asks us to move far away and out of our comfort zones? Or to trust Him through hard things like losing a child or facing infertility? Are we really willing to follow Him wherever He leads? That’s a lot to ask and follow through with.

However, when I reread these lyrics, I’ve found that the second verse of this song offers a little more insight into how to trust Him when He makes these large requests of us. It continues with:

He drew me closer to His side/ I sought His will to know/ And in that will I now abide/ Wherever He leads I’ll go.

The answer (and the only way to follow Him wherever He leads) is to abide in His will.

Merriam-Webster explains that this word abide means “to bear patiently,” “to endure without yielding,” “to wait for,” and “to accept without objection.”

Regardless of which definition you choose, these qualities can be hard for anyone. Waiting, bearing things patiently, and accepting without objection are not easy – especially in a culture that teaches that the easiest and quickest ways are the best ways.

One biblical character who showed these characteristics was Noah. In a world that had turned away from God, he was the only one who found God’s favor, was righteous, and walked with the Lord (Genesis 6:7-8).

Even though the passage doesn’t specifically use the word “abide,” God’s mercy to Noah and his family revealed how close Noah was with the Lord – and how willing he was to do whatever He asked of him.

Noah accepted the task of building an ark for a flood (even though he had never seen rain before) and waited patiently for it to happen. Meanwhile, he also endured the physical labor of building a huge ark without any modern tools.

Noah trusted that the Lord’s plan was best and that He would see it through, even if it meant waiting for what was promised (and doing hard things in the meantime).

In the same way, as followers of Christ, we are called to do the same.

In Luke 9:23, just as the first verse of that old church hymn says, Jesus teaches us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. But this can be difficult if we aren’t first abiding in Him and He in us.

John 15:4-5 tells us,

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (Emphasis added.)

If Christ is not abiding in us, and we are not abiding in Him, we can do nothing.

Nothing at all!

We wouldn’t be able to bear much of anything, and we would be terribly hopeless in the face of a culture that loves to promote ungodliness.

So, how do we actually abide in Him?

We must daily walk alongside our Savior and trust His teachings.

When we focus on Him, spend time in His word, talk to Him in prayer, love those He loves, serve those in need, and pay attention to things of His kingdom, our relationship with Him will grow stronger, and our outlook will change for good.

And maybe, just maybe, we will have an easier time following wherever He leads.

By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked (1 John 2:6).

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