A Word for 2016

According to the internet, 45% of Americans make New Years Resolutions. Only 10% of those who make them are successful at keeping them, and 1 in 3 people ditch them by the end of January. That used to be me. I used to make a list of a million things I wanted to change about myself, my life, and my relationship with God. After the list of "kept" ones grew smaller and smaller as the days (hours) went on, I'd simply resolve that I had failed for this year, and that I could try again come next January.

After a conversation with a friend about always striving to new and better things, and after finally admitting that I'd never be able to keep 20 resolutions, I decided to jump on a different bandwagon. This 2016 I have simply decided on a word to pray through and meditate on.

About a week ago, I sat down to write my newest song lyrics in my bible, when I happened to flip to the passage I'm currently memorizing with a friend. Realizing it had been days since I'd looked at it, I began to read it. One verse...specifically one word, jumped out at me: "we also believe and we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and bring us with you into His presence." Chills ran up and down my spine as my eyes landed on that last word, and suddenly I knew that God had given me my word for 2016.

A bunch of thoughts came into my brain about Presence. They came so fast that I could barely write them down before I was bombarded with more.  First of all, God's Presence is HOPE. When we struggle, we can put our hope in the fact that it will all be over in Heaven, in His eternal presence, where He will wipe the tears from our eyes.  Secondly, I thought of a certain line in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." Aka, bring some of heaven, some of God's Presence, down to earth. I realized that some of God's heavenly presence is here and available to us. We just need to ask. Matthew 7 says "Ask and it will be given to you." I believe if we ask for His presence...if we watch for it and wait expectantly for it, we will be amazed.

We were made for God's presence. When God created Adam and Eve, they walked and lived in the Presence of God. Like the lyrics of "Holy Spirit" say, God's presence is our living hope. In it, our hearts become free and shame is undone. Our hearts long simply to be overcome by His presence.

This 2016, I will be watching, waiting, and praying for Presence. Whether it's in the quiet moments (like sitting in a hammock while coloring and watching a rainstorm, which I did this past vacation), or the loud and bustling ones, we can encounter His presence anywhere, and that changes everything.