Each January, many people choose a word for the upcoming year—a single word that symbolizes their New Year’s quest. A focus. An aspiration. A goal.
You might even say a resolution encased within a fistful of alphabet letters.
An easily post-able, portable, proverbial reminder of what we deem most important to personally achieve during the next 365 days.
I decided to choose a word this year too. So I asked Papa God for wisdom about my 2021 focal word.
Several flitted through my mind, but none seemed quite right. Then I looked up.
My eyes focused on the contrail of an airplane slashing the blue morning sky with a straight, white line disappearing into cloud cover, its final destination hidden from view.
Acknowledge, a still, small voice whispered to my heart.
And a familiar Scripture flashed before my mind’s eye: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight,” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).
I could sure use a straight path. But in order to find one, the Word of God says I need to do three things:
⦁ Trust in the Lord with all my heart.
⦁ Stop leaning on my own understanding, which is based on my personal experiences and perceptions and colored by my pain.
⦁ Acknowledge Him in all my ways. Know God first (the root of ‘knowledge’).
Then take action based on that knowledge.
Action + knowledge = acknowledge. Of course. That’s my word.
And my quest for 2021: To actively lean on His understanding, not mine, by delving deeper into His Word, which will allow me to discern His will; to base my actions on that knowledge and trust Him with my whole heart. This will result in a straight path. Even though I can’t see where the path ends, it’s the trail I want to be on.
Like that contrail.
So how about you, my friend? Are you up for the challenge of choosing your life focal word for the upcoming year? New year. New adventures. New blessings.
After all, the sky’s the limit!
