Every year, we hear “It’s going to be your year!!!” resounding from all the places that true inspiration and encouragement are proclaimed. We forget that how we respond to that proclamation determines how much of it will actually manifest in our lives. Although this message is to everyone that will hear it, many will treat it like they’ve treated all the years before it. They will meet it with pessimism or disregard its good news for fear that they might have to change in order to usher it in. For those of us that have been waiting for God to give us the desires of our hearts and profoundly change our lives for the better, we understand that we can’t sit on the sidelines another year. We need to get ready as God moves us out of dissatisfaction and delay and moves us into all the promises that this year holds.
Focus on the victory
Jesus Christ said in John 10:27(ESV), “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” This verse wreaks of the intimacy and personal connection that the Lord wants to have with us. From the smallest, most insignificant thing, to the biggest, most life-changing event, everything that we encounter and experience in life is meant to bring us closer to God. Everything in life is spiritual because everything in life comes from the One that is Spirit. Jesus Christ said in John 4:24(ESV), “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” God owns everything and everything was created by Him. Humans can’t create. We can only produce from what God has already provided. Life is a spiritual reality, and we are God’s spiritual children. We can hear His voice and experience Him on levels that exceed our grandest imaginations.
We miss God and miss His anointing and blessings when our desires prompt us to look to other things, situations, and people to make our dreams a reality instead of focusing on God and our relationship with Him. 1John 5:4(NLT) proclaims, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” Nothing we will ever do in life will be as important as leaning on God in faith and learning to trust Him with our whole hearts. This is what is most important to Him and therefore, it should be our most important priority as well.
Christ won the victory for us when he gave his life as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross, and when God resurrected him from the dead. Everything evil against us was obliterated by what God accomplished through Christ, but in order for this victory to manifest in our own personal circumstances, we must believe in what God has done through Christ. This is where many of us struggle. We’re not focusing on the victory of Christ but on people, places, and situations. We want more money, so we focus on the lottery or some quick get-rich scheme that we think will increase our finances. We want to get married, so we focus on dating websites or on someone that isn’t the person God sent. We think if we can just get to this or that place, or bring about a certain situation, we’ll be happy.
One on one with God
James 4:8(NLT) tells us, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” The way that we lay hold of the promise that this year and every year holds is commit our agendas, time, and resources to getting close to God. He desires one on one time with us, so that we learn to hear His voice clearer. It’s one thing to hear a person tell you that this is your year, but it’s completely another to hear it from God, Himself. He desires to bring you to a place where you are confident in all the good things He has in store for you, and this is a place, position, and standing that is worth more than all the gold and treasures this world has to offer.
2Chronicle 16:9(NLT) says, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” As His eyes comb the earth, we must have a heart that will capture His attention. We need to be praying that God will open our eyes so that we will not tuck away a good Word under unbelief and doubt. Our hearts must be faith-filled, and we must be willing to stretch in ways we haven’t before. God knows the hopes of our dreams. He is the One that gave them to us. Our hopes and dreams must be built on Him, and if you’re not quite sure how to do that, give even your uncertainty to Him. Pray that He will help your unbelief. Be confident that as you do all that you can to grow closer to our Heavenly Father, He will see how you’re seeking Him in your quiet places and reward you openly with the manifestation of His promises in your life.■
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Promise This Year Holds”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.