27 Feb What’s in a word?
At the beginning of each year I ask God to guide me towards a verse for the year. Sometimes it just drops into my spirit and then is confirmed when it comes up in several different places- an instagram post, a reading in a devotional, a sermon. At other times it might come up around a theme I’ve been thinking on. In more recent years I have tied the verse to a word or phrase. Last years verse was John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (NIV) The word I chose for 2023, as you may have already guessed, was abide.
Is this a practice you have engaged in before? Do you see value in it? Is there any relevance to the turn of the calendar page to a new year? I believe there is. Though God is out of time, He sets us in it. I think He knows that we benefit from the comfort of repetition: rhythms and rituals, seasons that turn and then come back around. I love the feeling of expectancy that comes from a new year – a fresh chance to see what God has in store, and a moment where we can set down a monument honouring what God has done in our lives the year before.
An Anchor
I have practised this habit of choosing a verse for almost a decade now, and what it has given me is an anchor to come back to through the year. It gives me a theme around which to build my year. It helps to guide my decisions. When I am unsure of a particular course of action, I can go back to that scripture and see what wisdom may be hidden in the words, precious pearls tucked in the folds of the page.
A Comfort
It acts as a comfort when I feel lost, tossed about on the waves of life. There have been times where I have chosen a verse believing God has something particular to teach me but then it turns out it was something entirely different. In 2016 my verse was 2 Timothy 1:7 “I haven’t given you a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a self discipline.” I was delighted, perhaps this was the year God was finally going to cultivate self discipline in me, something that does not come naturally! 2016 saw the birth of my second child, while my first fought for his life in ICU, ventilated and sedated for 49 days. In the hush of that hospital ward I whispered those words over and over again as the warmth of God’s love and power flowed into the icy fear that pawed at my heart.
Meditation
Choosing a verse has helped me to commit some of the bible to memory and also to deepen my understanding of scripture as I mull over that one particular passage. We live in a time of swiping and scrolling. It is easy to move onto the next moment without allowing ourselves to rest and dig deep into this one. Instead we skip over the surface and then move on. I believe we are rewarded with buried treasure when we take tie time to mine it.
Reflection
Finally this practice has given me a way to see how God has worked in my life, and writing about that gives me something to come back to over and over again.
This year the phrase came first: “stand firm.” For the last few days it has been swirling through my mind. When I started looking into verses containing this phrase I realised there were many but the one that stood out was this:
“Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.” Ephesians 6: 13-14 (NIV)
I don’t know what 2024 holds for you or me, but this year, when in doubt, I will come back here to these words and ask God what he wants to teach me. I encourage you to ask God for a word and a verse this year. Don’t overthink it, just give yourself some quiet moments and an open heart and see where God leads you. Learn the verse by heart, read around it, journal on it, look out for where it pops up through the year, and come back to it when you need to ground yourself.
Let us know in the comments: do you have an anchor verse for 2024?
Jess Hill is a South African who now lives in Scotland with her husband and two wild boys. She loves to write to see make sense of her story and to see God’s hand at work in her life. She is a therapist by day.
No Comments