For 18 months, the first item on my Outlook task bar were these two words, typed exactly this way: provide.ABIDE.
The idea came to me on a Sabbath, after a hike to Snow Mesa, outside Creede, Colorado. The word “mesa” means table, and that’s exactly what I found at the end of my hike. Everything was so flat, I might as well have been in the Texas Panhandle.
But of course, I wasn’t. I was standing on top of a mountain at 12,000 feet above sea level. I could turn in a circle and see even taller mountains on every side.
I started to feel small and scared. It didn’t help that my husband and son left me completely alone for a little jaunt that took over an hour.
I started to pray furiously. The wind was furious. Was I going to freeze to death? Were there bears that high up? “provide, God!”
A single word came in answer: “ABIDE.”
When my husband and son returned from throwing snowballs at each other, they were apologetic, but unconcerned. “We could see you the whole time,” they assured me.
Oh.
I am always praying, “provide.” Gimme, gimme, gimme!
God is always saying, “ABIDE.” Abide in Me.
I don’t know how to do that. I keep demanding. But like my husband and son, God keeps assuring, “I can see you the whole time.”