Abiding
1 Corinthians 13:13 ASV(13) But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
It would seem that nothing in our world today has any permanence or dependability. The companies and businesses that had once been part of our nation’s foundation and stability are falling apart and being bought out by foreign entities. Several years ago I went through the process of getting my securities license in order to sell mutual funds. A strong point in the presentation process for selling many of these products was their history of weathering financial hard times, that they would be there through any difficulties and owning their stock would mean long term growth and security. The car companies were part of this group and it would have never been considered that these rocks of the American economy could not be there at least in our lifetime. Yet, this last week Chrysler has been purchased by Fiat and General Motors is also close to bankruptcy. The indestructible rocks are apparently crumbling under a storm that exposes and attacks a vulnerability that was really there all the time, and while there are other entities that would be still appear secure, nothing in our world today is exempt from this vulnerability. The ground is moving and all things built on these worldly elements are obviously shifting and revealing the weakness of their foundation.
To this atmosphere of uncertainty and fear there is this wonderful word that comes to bring hope of something substantial- ‘abideth’. While there is erosion and removal of all other elements, a rock that is made of an indestructible substance will weather the greatest storm and ‘abide’, remain, and still be something on which you can build a structure throughout a lifetime and beyond. Knowing the true nature of a natural substance beneath the surface is something that can be studied and determined by involved seismic testing and historical reference. There is likewise a proving that has taken place since the beginning of time- storms that have raged and regimes that have been overthrown- and through the greatest of these tests there has been these three elements that have remained after all others have washed away- faith, hope and love. For the one who has established their foundation on the bed-rock, the unshakeable and the immovable, there is great confidence and peace no matter how greatly the storm rages. Sleep can be sweet and rest complete at the very time when the ground is shaking and the thunder is ominous, because there is a knowing that when all else has been beaten down and washed away, there will still ‘abide’ this secure foundation.
There will be an end to all of this. Much will be proven for what it really is and there will be no doubt as to what the true rock is and what has just been sold as secure, but with much vulnerability. Though the shaking is inevitable there is a place of perfect peace for us on the Rock of Ages and as long as the building that takes place in our lives today is a building on faith, hope, and love, there can be an unwavering confidence in the eternal existence and dependability of the One who will abide forever and our permanence in Him.
