My word for 2025. Abide.
Definition according to dictionary.com: to remain; to continue; to stay.
For years I lived by strive rather than abide. My idea of “a good Christian” was one who followed all the rules and checked all the boxes. I thought I was pretty good at that. Until I wasn’t.
When I moved from the to-do list to the don’t-do list, it was a hard fall. I saw myself as a failure and a screw-up. I was ashamed. Why would God even think about forgiving me? I had been a brat.
Even when I experienced God’s forgiveness and restoration, I was still striving. Trying to do the right things. Trying to figure out God’s will for my life. Listening to him, but then wondering if I heard him correctly. I was never quite sure if I was on the right track. God led me to move my family across the state. Was it really God or was I just crazy? I told people, “I trust God. It’s my hearing I’m not so sure of.” Recently God showed me that I was using that as an excuse. I was doubting him and blaming it. on my hearing. I quit saying that.
In 2025, I have focused on abiding more and striving less.
I am spending more time in God’s word. I still use devotionals, Bible studies, etc., but that early-morning time is my Bible, my journal, and my pen. It has been an amazing time of soaking up God’s word. Going verse by verse, not skipping over, not skipping around, just spending time in his word.
I’m learning that to abide means to trust. When I ask for God’s guidance, then do what is in front of me to do and trust him with the outcome, that to me is the essence of abide. When I depend on my own strength and own methods, I get anxious and stressed. I can’t accomplish everything I want to. When I trust God; his plan and his timetable, I am more relaxed. I am less stressed. I am more joyful.
“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.” John 15:5 NKJV