My key word for 2017 was rest. In December I prayed asking God, what he would select for my 2018 word. The answer came before I said ‘amen’. After pondering for a few weeks, did I hear correctly, I concur. My word is choose.

“… choose this day whom you will serve,
… But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:15

This scripture came to mind immediately. Followed closely by this one.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you
and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit …”
John 15:16

I know I want to serve the Lord. John 15:16 reminds me of his initiative and his desire. I’ve been chosen with a specific purpose. These truths are guiding my choosing this year.

Big and small choices surround me every day. It takes discernment and wisdom to move forward. Yes? No? Good? Better? Best?

“Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10. I’ve learned that the fear of the Lord is a bound phrase that means living appropriately in the presence of God.

So if I am going to choose well, my question becomes, What does it look like today (or this week, or month, or year) to live appropriately in God’s presence?

I’ve identified 6 keys.

1. Choosing well builds on rest. (2018 is building on 2017.) Jeremiah 31:2,3, “… when Israel sought for rest, the LORD appeared … I have love you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” I need to continue to focus on God’s love for me; he will faithfully provide guidance.
2. My heart. God created me with a certain bent. Will this opportunity be in line with my creation? As 2018 dawned, I had two significant opportunities offered. Choose! For a while I thought I could do both. Not. As I thought about how I best operate, the one percolated to the surface; the other fell away.
3. My capacity. A couple of weeks ago I was talking with my friend Karma. Her capacity for relationships awes me. I too have a large capacity for relationships. But Karma is 25 years younger than me. I cannot compare my capacity to hers.
4. “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Psalm 147:10,11. Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should. Paul followed this caution. “When I came to Troas … a door was opened … my spirit was not at rest … So I took leave …” The rest of the story is in II Corinthians 2:12,13. And I love his next words, “But thanks be to God, who … always leads us in triumphal procession,” (italics mine)
5. Waiting. My prayers are not always answered the same day, or the same week. Choosing sometimes means wait and live with the ambiguous; live with the I don’t know. “but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength …” Isaiah 40:31. I want my choices to flow from strength, not weakness.
6. God’s glory. This is the bottom line. My choices are not about me. They are about God’s glory, about reflecting him to my world. “Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.”
   Isaiah 60:21 (italics mine).

Will you pray for me?

Do you have a word for 2018? I’d be honored to pray for you as well.