In my last post, I talked about assessing your life. I was able to take time last week to refocus, rest, and recharge. Every year after Christmas, my husband and I take three days to get away for a quiet spiritual retreat. It is usually a time of spiritual renewal as we prepare for the year ahead.
I began reflecting on the past year. I’ve been feeling stuck, but not knowing what to do about it. As I prayed, I felt God gently speak the words: renew, refresh, and restore.
I don’t think that I am the only one who experiences times where I feel like I am just “going through the motions” of life. My marriage has become routine, my health has become somewhat unimportant, and my relationship with God lacks true intimacy.
As I studied those words a little more, I began to understand the importance of each one of them and how I can use them to propel me into 2022.
When I think about the word restore, I think about restoring an old car. Restoring a car reestablishes what it once was. I need a RESTORATION in my desire to make my health a priority.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV) reminds me that I need to do my part to keep my body healthy. “19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” So I am believing that God will help me to once again be passionate on my journey to cleaning up my temple.
As I dug deeper into the word renew, I found that renew is similar to restore. However, the difference might be that restoration is to bring back and renewal is more of a replacement or regeneration. When God renews something, he makes it better than it was before. That’s what I want.
I need to experience a RENEWAL in my marriage.
My husband and I are getting ready to experience an “empty nest.” We need to rebuild our marriage in a new way as we transition into this season. And may God allow us to give each other “more and more mercy, peace, and love (Jude 1:2 NLT).”
Refresh means to give energy to or breathe new life into something. And I need to experience a REFRESHING in my relationship with God. I need to experience a fresh, new relationship and intimacy with God by experiencing and being in His presence. I need to take time to be still and listen to His voice. And as I “draw near to God, and he will draw near to me.” (James 4:8 paraphrase NLT)
As I enter 2022, I am looking forward with excitement to see how God moves in my life.
I have a new awareness of focus for this coming year.
I encourage you to take time to refocus, rest, and recharge so that you can hear God’s voice as you assess what He wants to do in you in 2022.
Listen closely and He will speak to you, what is He saying?
Lord, thank you for speaking to me. Help me be still and listen. What do I need to focus on in my life so that I can become the person you want me to be? I want to draw near to you and hear your voice. Amen
Comentários