The Power In a Word

I’ve got my focus for the year.  Just like that.  Well, not actually that suddenly.  It’s been sneaking up on me for a couple of weeks now but I gave in today.

For the last 4 or 5 years, God has given me a focus for each year.  A word and/or a passage that gives me some direction.  Something to help anchor me to the circumstances around me and God’s redemptive plan.  A focus for my learning and growing.  Without it, there is just too much change required of me.

Three years ago the word was abundance.  The passage was from Psalm 65–”Even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.”  When God gave me the word I had no idea that Richard would lose his job and our spiritual community would be beaten and scattered.  But there was no time in that journey that God’s abundance was not evident.  In fact, I was sad to end the year because it had been so rich.

Last year, the word was faith.  No need to expound.  See my earlier blog entries .

Each year I wonder if God will show me something else.  It’s okay if he doesn’t.  It’s certainly not a Biblical requirement or even expectation.  January 1 isn’t really a magical date and he could give me direction without identifying a word.  Two years ago he gave me three words.  Watch. Walk. Work.  It was while I was learning to adapt my spiritual practices to my new, productive work schedule.  Nothing dramatic, just some simple reminders.

As my faith journey and 2010 drew to a close I began to try a few words on for size.  “Freedom”  was a possibility.  “Strength” was another.  But today, it was clear.  The word is “Blessing”.   And I’m quite afraid.  This word is already a fixture in my vocabulary.  Each day my prayer is, “Lord, make me a blessing.”  I’ve been praying this for years after reading Abraham’s same plea in Genesis.   In fact, this could be my life verse/prayer.  But this is different.  I believe God is distinctly promising to bless me this year.   I know…he is blessing me all the time.  Spiritual blessings, emotional blessings, physical blessings, family blessings.  I have a blessed life.  This is specific.  I think he is promising to bless my ministry at Apartment Life.  That’s a bold claim and it’s public.  At least now it’s public since I put it in my blog.  Apparently this is Faith 2.0.  I was hoping for more of an internal reality and less of a bold claim.  But if God can change the unseen, he can certainly affect physical reality.  So now I’ve said it.  The new journey begins.