There is a subtle difference between doing things for Jesus and learning to remain in him. We can spend so much time striving to produce fruit, manage our circumstances, and live up to our calling that we lose sight of the life Jesus invites us to receive.
In John 15, Jesus offers a different way. He is the vine, and we are the branches. Our calling is not to manufacture fruit through greater effort, but to remain connected to the One who gives us life.
But what does that look like when life doesn't go as planned?
In this episode of Called Beyond, Tim Shuck talks with Nick Greenwood and David Zimmerman about how suffering, surrender, and the struggle to let go of control have shaped their understanding of abiding in Christ.
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An Honest Look at Our Hearts
The hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing gives voice to a struggle many of us know:
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.”
Our tendency to wander doesn't always look like turning away from God. Sometimes it looks like filling our lives with activity, relying on our own strength, or trying to control the fruit we hope to see.
David Zimmerman reflects on recognizing the ways he distracts himself from the simplicity of remaining in Jesus. Nick Greenwood describes a similar struggle through the image of a branch connected to the vine, recognizing how often he'd tried to manage growth rather than receive the life Jesus offers.
For Nick, five years of significant medical challenges brought this struggle into sharper focus. As he became less able to do the things he'd once done for the Lord, he began to confront how much he relied on what he could accomplish.
As Nick shares:
“The singular idea that I could discern the Lord was meeting me with that didn't involve me working and doing something was the simplicity of just staring at Jesus.”
Sometimes our circumstances expose how much we've come to depend on what we can accomplish. In those moments, Jesus invites us to recognize where we've been striving and rediscover the freedom of trusting him.
A Different Way Forward
For Nick, five years of significant medical challenges brought this struggle into sharper focus. As he became less able to do the things he'd once done for the Lord, he began to confront how much he relied on what he could accomplish.
David's journey led him to recognize his own resistance, surrender control, and depend on Jesus rather than his own strength or experience. Through that process, he came to a deeper understanding of what it means to abide:
“The remaining in Christ is more about his remaining in me, the faithfulness of his pursuit of my heart.”
Abiding isn't another spiritual achievement to chase. We are invited to receive the life of Christ and trust him with what grows from it. Our work and calling still matter, but they flow from our relationship with Jesus rather than becoming the source of our identity or the measure of our faithfulness.
As our roots grow deeper in him, we can serve without striving to prove ourselves, pursue fruitfulness without controlling the outcome, and remain faithful even when life looks different than we expected.
Where have you been striving to produce what Jesus is inviting you to receive? What might it look like to make him your vision again?
Perhaps the invitation is as simple, and as challenging, as these two hymns suggest: to recognize where we've wandered and turn our attention back to Jesus.
Featured Guests
David Zimmerman is a longtime ministry leader and former senior pastor who joined Novo with a heart to serve the church as a missionary. Through decades of ministry and more recent seasons of personal challenge, David has continued to discover the depth of Christ's abiding presence and the freedom of surrendering to his love.
Nick Greenwood serves as a team leader on Novo's Activated team, helping others recognize God's work in their lives and grow into the people he has created them to be. Nick enjoys woodworking, teaching younger generations, and running a family business with his family. You can learn more about their family business, Greenwood Jerky.