One Word: Period!

Recently, I wrote about summing my 2023 up in one word. Since then, I've seen devotionals and posts on social media with regard to going into this new year with a one-word focus. Keeping things simple is great, and one word or concept can help us narrow the field and keep us on task; however, just a word of caution: when God speaks, listen. In other words, just because every sermon you heard in January spoke of peace, and every one of your favorite celeb's posts was about peace, and that new song you heard --the one you just love --is about peace, doesn't mean peace is your thing for the next three hundred sixty-five days. First of all, what are you hearing about peace? Do you need to make peace with a coworker? Do you need to seek the peace of God? Are you to meditate on peace, teach others about peace, or work toward peace in your neighborhood? Context is important. When we take off running with only a portion of the message, we're not really walking in obedience. We've latched on to what inspires us or gives us that rush; we're plotting our own course based on a thumbnail. If God only whispers one word, that's fine, but we have to be sure there isn't more to the message before we begin wearing out #peace. And really, are we interested in what God has to say, or are we just trying to remain relevant?

So, what if it is peace, and what if it is that thing with a coworker? What if you obey, and by April the relationship is restored; he is your new bestie? What do you do for the rest of the year? Or, what if he's having no parts of it, or he transfers out of state? What do you do about the whole peace thing then? Track him down, put him in a half-nelson until he wants to be friends? Of course not! (No, I mean it; do not do it.) If you only expect God to speak to you once a year and you're only anticipating a one-word conversation, you're setting the bar really low. God created time: He doesn't obey it. He can speak to us as much as He likes any time He likes; but we have to be quiet and poised to listen. January is a great time for setting goals and doing new things, but so is February and so is June, so is Sunday and so is Tuesday. Time is a measurement, a tool, not a taskmaster. God takes us through the seasons --whenever they begin or end --He chooses. The first three weeks of January may be your season of reconciliation with a specific someone. By the end of January, you might enter a season of giving. Let's not let an app on our phones or the dawning of another day restrict what God has for us.

And there's one more point I want to make about this focus thing. In the past two weeks or so, I have found five (five!) brand new cigarette lighters and one candle-style lighter as I've been out walking. That's a bit strange. As I was praying one morning, the phrase Light of the world came to mind, and a friend on social media posted something based on Matthew 5:16, something about letting your light shine. Is that it? Light? Is this my word? A day or so later, the word integrity kept popping up all over my reading and my conversations. Another friend posted how God is challenging her to intentionality. A national radio station personality has announced God has tasked her with doing the hard things. Listening to the Lord --or listening for the Lord --is not a singular, spontaneous event. What I mean is, listening for God's voice is something that is cultivated through our personal relationship with Him. We don't necessarily plop down on the sofa, open Snapchat or poke our finger at a verse on the first page to which our Bible falls open and receive Divine revelation. The challenges or commands received by others are not necessarily those designed for us. Jesus died that we might each have a personal relationship with Jesus; it is within the bonds of that relationship instruction is received, purpose is revealed, and plans are followed. Absent a daily, ongoing, praying continually style of relationship, we are throwing darts at a board, picking up whatever the wind is blowing. 

As we continue through the second month of 2024, let's not fixate on what's trending, let's not take off running without the didact of spiritual disciplines and context, let's not be bound by the confines of measurements and tools, let's not attempt to render God or His plans down to a single thought or word; let's seek a deeper relationship with Him than we have ever had. Period!