welcoming 2020

Well, we made it folks: 2020.

 

I don’t know about you, but 2019 was one of the wildest years of my life. I finished high school, started college in Chicago, delt with a lot of changes, and (if you read my post a few months back) have been on a crazy journey of learning how to trust in God. Every year, I like to pick one word to focus my mind on; last year’s word was trust. At first, I was so confused why the Lord put that word on my heart, but as I look back on the year, it is so evident that trusting in the Lord was crucial. Amidst so many different life circumstances, He taught me the process of leaning into His arms. He taught me how to trust His goodness completely so that even when things didn’t make sense to me, I could be at peace knowing that He saw how everything was supposed to fit together. While the year was far from easy, man oh man was it good; learning to trust God in every area of your life is a beautiful, terrifying process of which I still have so much to learn. Nonetheless, I have seen His abundant provision in my life so clearly this past year, and I pray that I may continue to trust Him just as boldly in this next year, calling to mind all of the goodness He engendered in 2019. 

 

So, what now? In all honesty, I had a lot of difficulty choosing a new word this year, so I sought advice from my family and we eventually stumbled upon the word confidence. I feel the same as I did at the start of 2019 in a way, not really seeing how this word can help me grow closer to the heart of God, but He did it once and I believe He’s going to do it again! They encouraged me to grow in being more confident in the Lord and confident in the gifts He’s given me. While, last year was a beautiful journey, it was filled with a lot of doubt and fear. So this year, I really hope to recognize that tendency in myself and place the doubt and fear into the hands of the Lord, stepping out of my worries and into His freedom. I don’t know how this will play out, but I pray that the word confidence can aid me to grow closer to the Lord than ever before in 2020.

 

Ephesians 3:12

“In Him we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him,”.

 

I apologize that this isn’t my typical post (honestly, this is accountability for me in 2020), but it really is my hope that it may also encourage you to find a word to focus your heart on throughout 2020. Personally, I feel a lot of pressure to suddenly become a perfect human at the beginning of each new year. Ever heard “New year, New me”? It’s engraved in our culture to make a complete 180 at the beginning of the new year, but it isn’t sustainable and ends up leaving us feeling so unworthy and discouraged. Thus, keeping one word tucked away in our brains for the year with the intention of growing in our walks with the Lord, I believe, can be so beneficial in reminding us that there is so much grace. Because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, our shortcomings are covered by His blood. We don’t have to feel shame over our brokenness. We will mess up this year, but we will also be given grace this year. 

 

 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

 “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’”

 

So let’s do it! I pray that to you reading this, the Lord will make Himself known in your life this next year. I pray that He may teach you how to depend on Him more and that you may see His goodness at work in your life. He really is so incredibly good, and I wholeheartedly believe He wants to use you all to do AMAZING things for His kingdom. We are in this together. God bless and happy new year!