God’s Word for Me in 2022? Onward!
God’s word for me in 2022? Onward!
Ok, so you may not have a “word for yourself.” But it’s a thing…
Spiritual scribes like me spend time meditating and often choose a word for the new year. Last year I chose the word “focus.” I did indeed improve my focus (cataract surgery notwithstanding) and considered that and other clarifying activities to be a personal victory in 2021. As I contemplated all the hoops, hurdles and obstacles of 2021, I finally honed in and chose “onward” for 2022. I moved through a door of “knowns” and into seemingly unlit territory. But a funny thing happened on the way to that first oh so promising week of 2022. Then my dad’s kidney stone journey complicated. And then he got covid. More illness struck the rest of my family. Was my word a mocking hoax or still a call to action? Puzzled, I pressed in anyway. And thankfully, I received some blessed assurance.
The “What If’s”
It didn’t start out that way though. I’ve noticed that my approach to moving forward in my life lately has been too “conditional.” I’ll go back on my Noom after the holidays. I’ll start my podcast scripts after I learn how to work the equipment. Why launch a book in a pandemic year? Is there merit found in blogs when blogging is moving out of vogue? Why work at all when you run in the red and never in the black? Why not lay back and lounge in my “golden years” and simply enjoy my life? As a result of these rabbit trails, I often have not moved at all. Then I realized if I continue to dwell on “if’s,” I focus on obstacles and not God’s fluid trajectory.
As I pondered this pattern of defeated thinking, something else occurred to me. Onward doesn’t have to translate to moving at light speed. in God’s economy, sometimes it means taking one step at a time. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” said David in Psalm 119:105. A path is not a circumference around the planet Earth. It’s a personal trajectory. Right now mine looks more like a turtle’s trajectory but at least I’m no ostrich with my head in the sand.
Onward Vs. Backward
Defined, onward means to move in a continuing direction, forward and ahead. So as long as I’m not backtracking, I’m pressing onward, right? But in examining that behavior I realized something else. The opposite of onward is backward. So as long as I continue to pivot and thoughtfully calibrate, I’m progressing, and moving onward. In 1 Timothy 4:15 we are instructed to “Be diligent in these matters, so that everyone may see your progress.” And Paul further reminds us in 1 Corinthians that we are to be “steadfast. immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (Italics mine.)
It’s all fine and good to read these uplifting verses, but when the distance between them and the pit you’re languishing in looks more like a football field than a footstep, sometimes we need to dig deeper. I certainly needed to get out my dusty shovel. And for me digging also meant taking a look at a lie I’d been telling myself: that once everything gets back to normal, so will my work ethic. And my progress.
Examining A New Normal and other Worthless Whoppers
I faced a hard truth over the past weekend: that perpetually smooth, glassy water surface I’ve been dreaming of is never going to materialize.The forecast calls for sunny skies, intermittent showers, torrential rains and most likely a hurricane or two before the “race marked out for me” is complete. To tell myself that smooth sailing is ever going to be here to stay is unhelpful, untrue and ultimately paralyzing. And the sooner I take off the rose colored glasses and shed false expectation, the better prepared I’ll be when the first drop of rain hits my head.
Expectation vs. Surprise
1 Peter 4:12 reminds us that being unprepared for such potential derailing scenarios is counterproductive and simply not prudent. “Dear friends,” Peter writes in his epistle letter, “do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” And yet so many of us have been doing! Strange times, my father keeps saying out loud. That’s one way to look at it. But what happens as I take another look at God’s word for me in 2022? Onward? Yes. In spite of storms, obstacles, and weather forecasts.
Many of you know I’m a boating enthusiast. Since my boat is new, I’ve dragged my feet about subscribing to Vessel Assist, which is the AAA of the boating world. My boat is new, I kept saying to myself. It can rest on its laurels. But boating, like life, can have its unexpected difficulties and that indeed happened one day. We never know what storm is brewing in the distance.
Faithfulness and reliance on God in difficulty is the Christian’s vessel assist. Jesus is always in the boat with us, as He was with Peter, but are we mindful of it? Do we call on Him, rely on Him? Do we love and depend on Him? Or do we think we are fine and wait until disaster is at the door until His assist crosses our mind.
Boots on the Ground
I’m committed to ditching my complacency. So I’m pulling up my wellies. I’m situating my rain hat squarely on top of a head fully expecting a rainstorm or 12. But most importantly, I’m setting my sights not on the horizon or even just on the next step. Join me in focusing on both the “final frontier” of eternity and the unsurprising next step of what lies ahead.” Let’s leave inertia in the dust. And stomp through the puddles ahead with Christ-like confidence. After all, we know from Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. So I for one have decided to press onward with that sword of assurance as I face my daily battles with Christlike courage and confidence.
