Expectation!

Having never made a New Years' resolution, I have never experienced the disappointment of failing to "do" or "not do" a certain thing as the new year begins. This simple fact about my life has saved me a ton of heartache, I am sure.

The women in the church I attend have an online prayer/encouragement group that I belong to. We post prayer requests, share a moment of our life, share a scripture that has influenced us, a thought that we can all ponder and comment on, etc etc. Last year, I sent out a challenge to seek the Lord for a "word"......a word that He would use in 2010 to reveal Himself to us in a fresh new way. It is amazing to hear and see how the Lord worked out the "word" in the lives of the women who accepted the challenge. My "word" was REST. At first, it sounds like a great and easy word to have the Lord work out in my life. No so, or as my son says, "Yeahno!" It was with a lot of work on my part that this word was worked out in my life. Not that I am complaining, just stating a fact. Each time the Lord would allow a temptation or challenge to creep into my life, I was able to pray and rest in Him. To rest, I found is to trust. Now, had He given me the word "trust" I would have run and still been running....so as you can see, the Lord knows me better than I do. What I found is that to rest and trust is a lot easier than I was making it out to be! It is just placing on Him those things that are not mine to pick up anyway. To rest and allow Him to do the work He desires to do in my heart and mind. Really, easier than I thought....once I was willing to turn all things over to Him.

As we head into 2011, once again, the email group I mentioned above is being challenged to seek the Lord for a "word" for our lives. This morning in church, it came to me during a sermon. My "word" for 2011 is Expectation! Can't wait to see how the Lord will work this out in my life as I seek Him, trust Him and continue to rest in Him in the coming year.

Have you found Him to be faithful....reliable...trustworthy? How easy it is for us as humans to look to all of the things we fail at, don't have or lack within. His desire is that we would begin to see ourselves as He sees us. To look to Him for the answers we seek. To know in our heart that He is 100% reliable, trustworthy and faithful. My encouragement to you is too seek Him first in all you do and rely on Him for all of your needs...both large and small. Rest in Him with an expectation for the things He has for you in the coming year! This is gonna be great!