In one of my Master's courses, were are assigned to choose a word goal for the semester. This was great! Instead of carrying around a laundry list of new year's resolutions, I would be able to focus my attention on one, unforgettable word. So what would that one word be?
I reflected on several words that popped into my mind immediately: growth, maturity, perseverance, positivity, finisher, well-rounded, achieve, and the list went on and on. Endurance, peace, diligence, purity, faithful, and fulfillment. My one-word goal turned out to be a laundry list of its own as I started to think about the year. Questions emerged from the chaos of my thoughts--how can I pick just ONE word? How do I even go about doing this? There are so many great words, but which one is right for me? How will picking this one word affect my year?
Before sleeping one night, I sat up with my back against the wooden headboard of our bed whispering quietly as I prayed to the Lord about which word He thought would guide me for the year ahead. As I struggled to silence my thoughts, the words "fulfillment" and "perseverance" came to mind.
The next week of class came and these were the words I shared with my peers. As I drove home, I realized that even those words did not seem completely right for me. Were these words truly inspired? I realized that even in my time of prayer, I was so excited to pick a word that I did not completely quiet my mind, and instead, pushed words to the forefront of my mind. Since the Lord did not say "no" then it must be what He wanted too. We tend to do that sometimes, right? We may say that the Lord is leading us in this way or that but sometimes the reality is that we are simply scratching the surface, and since the Lord may be quietly waiting for us to go deeper, we take what we find on the surface and run with it rather than letting the deep things to truly emerge from His Spirit.
The next week of class came and these were the words I shared with my peers. As I drove home, I realized that even those words did not seem completely right for me. Were these words truly inspired? I realized that even in my time of prayer, I was so excited to pick a word that I did not completely quiet my mind, and instead, pushed words to the forefront of my mind. Since the Lord did not say "no" then it must be what He wanted too. We tend to do that sometimes, right? We may say that the Lord is leading us in this way or that but sometimes the reality is that we are simply scratching the surface, and since the Lord may be quietly waiting for us to go deeper, we take what we find on the surface and run with it rather than letting the deep things to truly emerge from His Spirit.
So once again, I was in prayer. What was that one word?
"Lord, give me the heart to move past the surface-level things and dig deeper."
And as clear as day, there it appeared on the canvas of my heart.
"Lord, give me the heart to move past the surface-level things and dig deeper."
And as clear as day, there it appeared on the canvas of my heart.
Abide.
Abiding in the Lord. Abiding in His will. Abiding in Him which births the fruit of the Spirit in my life. There are many goals I have for myself but where have these goals come from? As I traced back the visions I have right now, I realized that they have come from the inspiration of the Lord. So far, I have tried to fulfill these goals out of my own strength but that is not what the Lord wanted for me.
As I abide in Him day by day, slowly and surely, He guides me and teaches me how to order my life and how to fulfill the tasks set before me.
John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me."
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