Find Your Word for the Year

[Inside: Find your Word of the Year]

My word of the year is REDEEM.

Redeem 

From the latin word redimere meaning, to buy back.

Definition:

• compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something).
• gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.
• fulfill or carry out (a pledge or promise)

Redeemed is my word of the year.

When I started out the year, my word was joy. I desperately wanted joy. The kind of joy I didn’t have to work at. The kind of joy that just happens, always under the surface, ready to bubble up in me and out of me at a second’s notice. Joy that is evident in my eyes and on my face to everyone around me.

Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10 

The last two years have been the most difficult of my life. God made it clear to me that it was time to resolve a broken family relationship. It was time to stand up for myself by creating boundaries. It was time to step into the person He had created me to be – without the constant pull to be who another desired me to be.  These two years were a slow process filled with confusion about what was true and what was a lie, sadness over what could have been, grief as I accepted what would never be, hard decisions to create boundaries and stand up for myself and my mental health, and ultimately accepting the reality of broken relationships. 

It was worth it.

These years were also filled with dependence on God, the realization of His promises, provision, comfort, guidance, and healing. As I turned the corner out of those desperate, hard years, I was seeking joy in my life. The joy that my situation had robbed me of for so long.

I prayed for my word of the year relentlessly.

I boldly asked God to reign down blessing upon blessing into my life and into my family.  As a daughter of the King, I asked my Father for every good thing he had to offer. I asked Him to keep his promises. 

Early in my two-year journey, God spoke a personal word to me. He told me that He had work for me to do but that I wouldn’t be able to do it until I worked through this hard situation. I needed to trust Him through it, and obediently walk the rocky path before me. It wasn’t going to be easy, but it was going to be worth it. Because in the end, I would be prepared for the next thing He had for me. More than anything, I want to serve the Lord. Wherever, however, and whenever, I want to serve the Lord. I want to be exactly where He wants me to be. This was where He wanted me to be for that season.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

This was a year of blessing, to say the least. Our God is faithful in every way. Not only did he carry me through the tough years, providing peace, mercy, and healing; He is blessing me and using me in new ways that I never dared to imagine. He has surprised me and amazed me with His goodness. 

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I have joy – my word of the year.

It thrills me beyond explanation to know that I have joy. As the year closes, I see that God blessed me with more than just joy. He’s also in the process of redeeming my story. Of redeeming those desperate, hard times by helping me become the woman he intended me to be. He is using me in new ways in my home, my marriage, my relationships, and my work. He is giving me healing, acceptance, joy, and peace; and He’s not finished yet.

My Story is being REDEEMED

He is buying back purpose and meaning and wholeness.  And that’s better than joy. 

Or, maybe it’s the reason for my joy.  Because redeeming my story means that it was all worth it. That there was purpose in my pain. That the journey had meaning. God is using it for His glory, and His design, and He is refining my heart. 

My Redeemer lives. He is active and working in my story. He is the reason for my joy. He is the reason for my purpose. He is the reason for my life.

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17

What’s Your Word for the Year?

As you face this new year, I challenge you to find your word of the year. What are you begging God for? What do you need, that only can come from God? Is it Joy? Peace? Fearlessness? Boldness? Gratitude? Forgiveness? Patience? Self-Control? A new year’s resolution will help you in all of these areas for a time. When your self-resolve fades, and you slip back into old habits nothing will have really changed. Real change comes from the Lord. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

Find Your Word of the Year

Think it over. Find your Word of the year and then seek the Lord. Don’t stop seeking Him. He will speak to you, guide you and provide for you.

God has done all this so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn’t far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. Acts 17:27-28 (CEV

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