For many years now I have been praying for a word that is given straight to me by my Creator for the new year. I do not want to choose this word of my own accord but I want this word to be divinely given straight to me by the One who loves me and knows me better than anyone else.
First, a recap of my past words. Pardon me for the repetition but I need this reminder more for myself than anything.
In 2013 my word was "intentional". I knew that I needed to be more intentional with my family and my walk with the Lord. In 2014 my word was "revive". I felt a deep need for revival in my life. I desired to see the Lord in all that I did and in my daily life. In 2015 my word was "selah". My soul longed for pause. I wanted to stop and reflect on the Lord and the people in my life. In 2016 my word was "enough". I wanted to be satisfied with all that I had. My home, my husband, my kids, my car, my life. I wanted the comparison game to be gone. I wanted what I had to be enough. In 2017 my word was "sacrifice". I wanted to make the choice to sacrifice my time and needs to be with others. In 2018 my word was "engaged". My goals were to achieve more meaningful relationships by being engaged with others and truly listen to them and get to know them for the way God made them.
The last few weeks of 2018 I was seeking for my new word for 2019. Each time I would pray about this, the same word would flood into my spirit. My word for 2019 will be "focus". As always, I began to research the word and was blown away by the meanings I found. Focus means:
noun
- 1.the center of interest or activity.
- 2.the state or quality of having or producing clear visual definition.
"his face is rather out of focus"
verb
- 1.(of a person or their eyes) adapt to the prevailing level of light and become able to see clearly.
- 2.pay particular attention to.
As a verb, focus challenges me to pay particular attention to my Father and He will bring light to my life. This, in turn, will cause me to see things more clearly.
I will be honest. This last year I may have succeeded in building relationships and being more engaged with others, however, I feel I have lost my focus. It seems that each day is a blur. I have great intentions each morning when I rise but, by the time I fall into bed each night, I feel I have failed with the time that God has given me. I plan to blog more or exercise or keep a journal or so many other things I want to do and then it seems that time has slipped away and I have accomplished nothing that I want to do.. nothing that the Lord has laid upon my heart to do.
I believe that having focus as my word will help me to accomplish the things that I feel I need to do and want to do for my fulfillment in my life. It is so easy to get lost in the hours of the day, the mundane tasks that we must do.. and we forget to do the things that feed our soul. If we fail to feed our soul, our heart begins to wither away. We go through the days exhausted and overwhelmed and our focus is lost on the things that matter. We wonder why we cannot get things done or why we feel so tired and fatigued and yet we aren't getting to any of the things that we have planned to do.
When we place Him first, he gives us the hours we need. He helps us succeed and accomplish our goals. There are so many things that the Lord does for us and yet we forget He is in the smallest details of our lives as well. We do not fail when we rely on Him for absolutely all areas of our lives. I could not have found a better bible verse to guide me more than this one:
Philippians 3:15-16 The Message
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision-you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.
It is my prayer that 2019 will bring focus and things accomplished in my life that bring joy, peace and more happiness than I have ever experienced.
