Staying

There’s a time to stay and a time to leave. Doesn’t the Bible say that there is a time for everything under the sun? “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1. NIV). But isn’t it sometimes difficult to sort out which is best? When to stay and when to leave? 

Some choose to leave a job in order to raise a family. Others choose to stay with the job and have the children cared for by others. A difficult decision. Sometimes people leave a church because they are unhappy with what is happening. Others choose to stay and help resolve the issues. Another difficult decision. Some choose to stay in an unhappy marriage in order to be a godly influence. Others leave. What a hard spot to be in!

Mary, an unwed (but betrothed), pregnant virgin, left home to stay with her cousin Elizabeth for a few months. What a special time for both of them.! But then she went back home to Joseph, the man who followed God’s direction and stayed engaged to her against all public opinion.

Moses was called by God to come and spend time with Him. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.’. ….Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 24:12 & 18, NIV).

That could not have been easy. Yet being in God’s presence was wonderful. And as a result of staying, the law was given and all the nation was blessed. Most of us don’t have the privilege that Moses did to be in the Lord’s presence in a miraculous way. But we do have the opportunity to “stay” in the Word and hear from Him. His Spirit applies the things we learn from the prophets, historians, poets, apostles, and servants of old.

There’s an interesting situation in the life of David. He had an army who fought with him and for him, believing him to be God’s anointed. At one point, he took some soldiers with him and left others to guard the camp. “…and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff” (I Samuel 25:13, KJV). “Staying by the stuff” is an interesting phrase. It doesn’t seem as honorable as being on the front lines. But David treated them the same. “…as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike” (I Samuel 30:24, KJV).

That story reminds me of those who go to the mission field while others stay and man the fort at home by praying and giving. Some stay on those foreign fields for decades without seeing results. I admire those who stay wherever God calls them to be. He blesses both with His presence and His peace. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3, NKJV). Isn’t He the best place to stay?

“Listening” from “Serenity”