So, it’s the top of the new year and for me that means it’s a time of reflecting and seeking God for divine direction.
A ritual for me every year is to go before God and ask Him for the direction and focus for the next phase in my life. This time of year can present many emotions but generally it invokes a sense of refreshing and an opportunity to make some necessary changes to better my life. This year that feeling has deepened with the major life change of getting married last October.
I entered 2020 as a new woman. My first act of duty was to legally change my last name. I cannot tell you all how much unexpected anxiety came with the process. Surprisingly, after it was all said and done, I was swept with childlike fearlessness for changing other areas of my life.
Last year was all about surrendering to build. The Most High revealed to me that in order to obtain all the things my heart intensely desired I would need to submit FULLY to His plan and process.
Surrendering to God’s will is a discipline that every believer should practice in every area of our lives. As my husband so eloquently puts it, many of us claim to serve God but have not completely employed Him as the Lord of our lives.
2019 offered many, sometimes hard and uncomfortable opportunities to allow God to be God AND Lord of my life. Many times, that meant saying exactly what’s on my mind and other times it means exercising temperance –something that has been a real struggle for me in certain areas. It also meant consulting God in every area. That might sound like a no brainer, but can you honestly say that you wake up every morning and ask God what He wants you to do today?
It’s the “little” areas in our lives that need to be surrendered in order to build in the big areas.
Last year at around the October November mark, I began to feel God moving me in the direction of my theme for 2020: FOCUS ON THE WORK.
I’ll be honest here and say that in my mind surrender to build looked more like, give it to God and He’ll make whatever you’re doing (writing a book, creating music, growing a business etc.) grow and multiply exponentially overnight. Listening to podcasts and consuming to much personal development content had me running faster than I had the capacity to handle, so I took a few breaks. During this time, with the assistance of my husband, God helped me to focus on my WHY and remove things that were causing me to move to fast or anything that diverted me from the core of what I’m called to do.
2020 is my year for WORK without expectation of worldly gain.
That’s work on myself, the creative projects God has placed on my heart, my family, friendships and everything else.
We do so many things with the intentions of gaining materially but how often are we ensuring that what we’re doing is pleasing God?
Focus on the work means creating quality content that glorifies God, eating healthy, exercising and prioritizing rest so that I am not limited from God’s use due to physical ailments. It means having hard conversations, telling the truth and continuously seeking God to obtain and maintain strong mental and emotional health.
I simply want to see what would happen if I TRULY made God my priority. King Uzziah saw great blessings when God was his priority.
2 Chronicles 26:5 says, And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.
KJV Bible
2020 is all about being who I say I am in Christ in word and deed. I am truly looking forward to focusing on the work God has called me to do.
