A lot of my friends have always picked a word of the year to focus on. You basically focus on this word the whole year and implement it into your life.
For example, I might choose joy and use the whole year to work on having joy in my life no matter what.
Well, this year I decided to pick the word surrender. I wanted to work on surrendering my life over to God to let Him do what he wants with my life. I wanted to trust in Him at all times. If I was going through something tough, I wanted to surrender it over to God.
Seems like a good word right?
But man did God test me with that word this year.
When I hear people talk about 2020, it is often talked about so negatively. I hear things like “Just have to get through this year.”, “can we just forget this year happened?”, “Worst year of my life.” “I can’t wait for this year to end.” etc…
Let me start off my saying, I get it.
I had so many plans for my future this year crumble right in front of me. I thought I had found my purpose in life and that God was fully behind it. I really felt like He spoke to me and I knew what my next steps were. Which was exciting because I finally had an answer to the daunting question, “What are you doing with your life?”
When everything crumbled, it was disappointing and confusing.
I was supposed to travel across the world to Morocco with amazing women that I was so excited to meet.
I was supposed to start my year in South Carolina on the beach.
I had a trip to my favorite place in the world, Haiti, cancelled.
But what really got me was I was ready to put my life on hold for 6 months to go to a mission school to learn how I could serve Jesus for the rest of my life.
The decision to say yes to that was so challenging, but I knew deep down that it was what God was calling me to do. When that got cancelled, it was extremely hard to accept. This was what God was calling me to do.. I was so sure.
So, I waited. Hoping God would speak to me and tell me why this was happening.
I didn’t look for the good in the situation. I didn’t try to understand God’s timing or plan.
I just waited. I think I was hoping God would lay the answers right out in front of me so I could understand.
So, for a few months I looked at my life with the mindset of just getting through the day. Which I think is what a lot of people are doing to get through 2020.
It wasn’t until I decided to step out of the funk I was in and take back my life that God spoke to me.
Here’s what I kept reading and seeing everywhere..
God’s timing is perfect.
God’s plan is perfect.
Proverbs 16:9
“ In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
I think this is something as believers we all know, but we often don’t have that mindset when we are going through the disappointments of life.
You may not have your life planned out, but I think a lot of us have an idea in our heads of what we want our life to look like. We want to control our outcomes. We praise God when our lives are going as we have planned and as soon as they don’t we question Him. We question His plan.
A lot of people are questioning God for what is going on in 2020.
Nobody planned to have to quarantine for months.
Nobody planned to worry about losing a loved one during this time or actually losing a loved one.
Nobody planned to lose their job.
Nobody planned to live through a global pandemic.
I’m pretty sure nobody saw 2020 coming.
Everyone's just trying to get through the year.. Then surely they will be happy.
Just trying to get through every day and hope happiness will come. Peace is coming. Normal is coming.
But what if we can start looking at 2020 in a different way.
God can and IS doing big things with 2020.
Don’t rush past this year and just power through it. Take time to reflect and look at what God has done and will continue to do this year.
So maybe this is the year…
God teaches you to find joy in Him.
God teaches you to surrender.
God teaches you to slow down.
God teaches you to trust Him.
God teaches you to stay present in life.
God teaches you to rest.
God’s plan is perfect and He is doing big things in 2020, but we are so distracted by all the disappointments to see Him working.
So, I challenge you to pick a word for the last few months of 2020.
Maybe, your word is thankful and you can focus on thanking God for what He is doing for you, instead of focusing on all the bad that is going on.
Maybe you choose joy so you can find the joy in the midst of everything going on.
Or, maybe you choose surrender like I did and surrender everything you do and everything you're going through over to the Lord.
What is God going to use this year to teach you or to do?
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