I don’t know if you’ve noticed but making New Year’s resolutions seems to be rather passé these days. I don’t know if it’s the time it takes to compile them, or just the crushing disillusionment they can provoke when December rolls around again… or is that just me?
Anyway for those of you who still love a healthy dose of January goal setting, panic not! A new trend is sweeping the boards and I for one am jumping on the bandwagon. Instead of making resolutions, we are choosing one word, a “word of the year.” Not a long drawn out list of resolutions, but a simple word, representing some kind of personal change you want to see in the coming year.
I know, I’m a bit late to the party since it’s now already almost February – you can thank jetlag, ear infections, stomach flu and pink eye for that! However I am now armed with a word that I feel captures something of my heart for the coming year. A word that I feel God has signposted for me over and over again in conversations, sermons, reading material… you name it. A small, unassuming word but with so very much impact.
R E S T
Yep that’s it – and no, not the kind of rest that you get from a long hot shower, or a nap or an hour away from the kids. Although believe me, they each have their place! This kind of rest is the rest you feel deep within your soul. A rest that brings peace, fulfilment and of course, joy.
Our pastor was just talking recently about how incredibly busy we all are. We hurry and rush and jam our schedules full of appointments, activities and ‘things!’ Not only that but we seem to relish the hectic nature of our lives. If we are busy, we are successful. We are valuable. We are making a difference. Is this you? I cannot deny that I too am overbooked, over loaded, always rushing. Having small children means that you have the joy of seeing yourself starkly, as they see you – reflected in their mannerisms and their play. So when your daughter starts telling her toys to “hurry uuuup” and “come on!”, I know that I have a problem! Guilty as charged. I am definitely being called to focus less on the schedule and more on the solitude.
However at a deeper level, rest to me also means I need to stop striving. To stop trying to move onto the next chapter of my story before the ink has dried on this one. I’m a planner; I like (need!) to look ahead. However, the danger is that I spend so much time trying to figure out the next stage that I miss the beautiful, glorious, adventure that I’m in right now. In this moment.
There are things about this season of life that frustrate me. It can be easy to fall into the trap of doubting your calling, your value, feeling ineffectual, desiring more. But I’m hearing God say over and over again that I need to rest in it. To trust Him and where he has me right now. The Bible tells us that “there’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on this earth” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There’s comfort in that verse. To embrace this season and all it brings. Whether our focus is on sowing, cultivating or reaping the harvest, our role is no less important, no less valuable to the Kingdom. Each season has its own purpose and focus and has earned its rightful place in the story being written by our Creator. Our striving, our tendency to try and jump ahead to write it ourselves will only bring us discontentment, anxiety and the very opposite of rest within our souls.
In her book, ‘Nothing to Prove,’ Jennie Allen writes, ‘We won’t ever stop searching for purpose until God’s will becomes our passion.”
So this year I’m trying to rest in God’s will. To stop striving and worrying about what is next, or what He may or may not be working out for me behind the scenes. To rest and breathe and know that He has got this and will show me what’s next – but only when the timing is perfect. He knows my struggles, my disappointments, my unmet desires. He knows my goals and dreams and potential. But He has made everything beautiful in His time. So I need to stop fighting so hard, stop trying to get ahead of Him and instead focus on serving and glorifying Him right where I am. There’s beauty, so much beauty, to be found there: in the stillness.
“The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:14)
2018 is going to be my year of rest. Let’s see what it brings…