This Year's " W o r d "

I have some wonderful friends who each year wrestle with trying to find a “word” to be their focus for the upcoming year.  I have done that in the past – and have genuinely worked on and focused on that word throughout the year.  It’s a great discipline!

This year, there is a word that simply will not leave me.  I am determined, however, to not let this word be my “word” for the year.  It is a word that honestly in my 40+ years of life, I don’t recall ever being a struggle for me.  This ugly word is “bitterness.”

I have always been that person who wants to see the best in each situation.  I am a
Romans 8:28 kind-of-gal!  Even in the most rotten of situations, I tend to see the silver lining and know that God is going to do something good in the life of a believer…even when the situation seems pretty bleak.

This year….this year, something has been different.  I don’t know if it is something that has been building up and I just didn’t realize it or if I’ve just had a sudden realization – but I am really dealing with some bitterness.

This bitterness is most definitely not from God.  Rather, satan is loving the fact that it is causing me to be distracted from all that God has in store for me.  Bitterness robs me of my peace.  It robs me of my joy.  It is even going so far as to rob me of some closeness in a few of my relationships.  It makes me angry.  It causes me to have doubts.  It distracts me.  It makes me a mess. 

I am that person who wants everyone to strive for the best.  I understand that we live in a fallen world and not everyone is on the same page.  But my struggle is this:  how long does one stick around a situation to see if it will get better….versus when is it time to shake the dust from one’s feet and leave this situation?  For a girl who likes it when things are black and white, left or right, one way or the other….well, this makes it a tough one!

So what’s a girl to do? 

Whenever I feel defeated and the bitterness just won’t seem to go away, I find myself reminded that God speaks to us in a multitude of ways.  It’s amazing to me how many times I’ve turned on the radio and “just the right song” seems to be playing.  I am in awe of the people God sends my way – completely out of the blue! – to encourage and affirm my ministry.  When I look up my “verse of the day,” God’s Word so often speaks directly to my situation.  (If we’re being transparent and open here, these things freak me out a little bit because they are SO on point!) 

God is pretty awesome like that.  He doesn’t let us go.  He doesn’t put us in this life alone.  He constantly reminds us that we have to look at the bigger picture.  Above all, bitterness doesn’t have a valid place in the life of a believer.  Oh yes, it continues to rear it’s ugly head, but as one of “God’s Girls,” I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He and His Kingdom are all that matter. 

I’ve read The Book.  God wins.  I’ve just got to keep my eyes on Him.  😊

Scriptures to Ponder:  John 16:33, Revelation 22:12-13, 20, Proverbs 3:5