Trust and Contend: Navigating 2023 with God's Guidance
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
I have never been one to have a ‘word for the year’. However, I have been given one this year. The word is
CONTEND.
I have felt a little rumbling and shifting in my spirit. This usually happens when the Holy Spirit decides to make some changes in my heart – Tidy up a bit, refocus my direction, do some remodeling and redecorating in there.
As the saying goes, out with the old, in with the new. What better time for this than at the beginning of a new year? So I wanted to share a few things He’s been whispering to my spirit for the last three months.
The first thing is about the weather. Specifically, that it would be a season with lots of rain. In general, that might not mean much to some states, but I live in California. Southern California. Think desert, at least lately. In the last quarter of 2022 they were predicting another dry season. However, I knew that wouldn’t be the case, and that we would be getting lots of rain. And here we are now in January 2023. The amount of rain this month has already almost hit the halfway mark of the amount from 2022, and has exceeded 2021! Friend, it’s January 4th that i am writing this, on a rainy day with a forecast for the next week to have 4 out of the 7 days raining. You would think we were in Seattle here…
What I have found is that the Lord does in the physical what He is doing in the spiritual.
Which leads me to the second thing I heard.
2023 is going to be a good year. A Soaking year, a year of His rain. I didn’t say easy year, I said good year. When you get lots of rain, things are beautiful and green. But you also get flooding and mudslides.
This is where my word contend comes in. It won’t be an easy-breezy year, coasting through the blessings. In fact, I have heard the call to buckle down and plant my feet for some opposition. When there is opposition, though, alongside it rides opportunity.
Let this be a year of contending. It will be imperative to stay close to the heartbeat of the Father. All training up to now is going to become seasoned in this season. As we become fluent in contending and overcoming, we will be given more training, more ground to take. So, take the verse in Proverbs to heart. TRUST in the Lord. DON’T LEAN on your own understanding. Put Him at the forefront of EVERYTHING, and watch Him straighten out the path in front of you. See Him light the way.
I would love to hear from you. What are your thoughts? Do you have a word for 2023? Anybody else going with a new hairstyle due to the rain?
I would love it if you shared this post with someone, that is the biggest complement you could give me! If you have been wondering if coaching is for you, fill out my contact form and I we can get a free consultation scheduled for you!
Keep contending, my friend!