A few years ago I hopped on the OneWord365 bandwagon. I did not join lightly, however, but with great anticipation and much prayer. Beginning in early November I would seek the heart of the Lord about a word that might be my guiding word from Him for the upcoming year. I tried very hard not to suggest a word to Him, because I knew that He knew what the coming year would hold and I did not. Some years my Word came quickly, while others took more prayer and pondering to capture.
Here are my Words for the past few years:
2012 – Trust
2013 – Jesus
2014 – God gave me 2 words – Loss and Others
2015 – Renew
2016 – Rest
Each time, God gave me a word straight from His heart that would challenge and bless my heart. None, however, were more challenging and required more of me than my 2016 word ‘rest’. During the course of the year I have posted several times about what God has taught me through focusing on ‘rest’. I imagine those lessons are not complete just because the calendar will soon say ‘2017’.
May I recap a bit of what God taught me, just so I can have it all in one place for future reference?
- God knows best and He will not ask me to do anything for which He does not have purpose
- I can bend my knee to what God asks of me, or He can break my legs (figuratively, or maybe literally) to get me to where He desires me to be
- My unwillingness to cease my activity (mental, physical, blogging, etc) shouted with a megaphone that I did not trust God
- God knew I needed to learn to embrace physical rest for the good of my body and mind
- I am physically and emotionally stronger now because of my times of rest
- He was calling me not only to physical rest, but also to a blogging rest, which I desperately needed. Before I bent my knee to a blogging break, I was to the point of walking away from writing completely
- God is willing to renew my strength, but I must do it on His terms, not mine
- When I FINALLY ceased striving and embraced rest, He met me in such tender, beautiful ways that I would have, otherwise, missed
- As part of this year of rest, I have learned, and am still learning, to lean into Sabbath (One of the tools God gave me to help with this was Shelly Miller’s wonderful book, Rhythms of Rest. I’ve linked to it at the bottom of this post via my Amazon Affiliate link. I promise, it is money well spent.)
So, here we are, and I have been seeking hard after my word for 2017. I knew there was the possibility that there might be a continuation of the focus on rest for the upcoming year, and if that had been the case, I would have embraced it. I will not forget the lessons of ‘rest’ and will continue to carve out times and seasons of rest.
I believe, however, that the Lord has given me a new OneWord365 for 2017. As with each of my words, I walk into 2017 not knowing how the Lord will use it in my life, but trusting His sovereignty and wisdom. I am trying to not even speculate how this word will impact me, because God is a God of creativity and surprises.
My heart’s desire is to lean into my OneWord365 for 2017 and embrace the lessons God has for me in it. My OneWord 365 for 2017 is:
Friends, if God has given you a Word for 2017, I would love for you to share it. Leave me a comment sharing your OneWord365 for 2017. Thanks for stopping in.
