Tis the season for reflecting on the past year and looking forward (how ever cautiously) to the new one.
In my life, there were so many hard things in 2021, including covid, 12 deaths in our church family, an ICU stay for my dad, a second stroke for my sister, and my son’s anxiety getting harder for him to manage. There were also good things: I got a new job, I was joined by a new podcast cohost, I taught a disability ministry cohort, and just a couple weeks ago I was interviewed by Focus on the Family (airing Jan. 18th).
And as we kick off 2022, I can’t imagine what this year may bring. What will God ask of us? How will he bless us? What decisions will I need to make? It can feel overwhelming to think about!
I don’t know what this new year will bring, but I don’t have to because God knows. And He isn’t withholding things from me, creating a treasure hunt with a prize at the end. He reveals His plan to me in the right time. I can trust in this because He has always been faithful to reveal to me what I need to know and need to do.
That’s why the one word I’m focusing on in 2022 is reveal—I’m asking Him to continue to reveal to me what I need to know.
Photo credit: Lightstock.com.
As I prayed over the word reveal, I started by looking in the dictionary:
Reveal: verb (used with object)
•to make known; disclose; divulge: to reveal a secret.
•to lay open to view; display; exhibit.
It reminded me that even though I have questions, God has answers. He is the one who will make known, disclose, and divulge. In fact, we see Him do it throughout Scripture. Here are four ways reveal is used through the Old and New Testaments:
•God reveals to his people what they did not know: “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.” Deut. 29:29
•People reveal to each other what they do not know: “Esther did not reveal her ethnicity or her family background, because Mordecai had ordered her not to make them known.” Esther 2:10
•The prophets revealed God’s plans: “He is here: the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, the one who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth. The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.” Amos 4:13
•And the ultimate reveal, His plan to restore our relationship with Him through His Son Jesus: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:9
So what am I asking God to reveal to me in 2022? I’m starting with Job 34:32, “Teach me what I cannot see.” I want to Him to reveal His will and His plan so I can follow closely after Him. I’m also praying these three verses:
•Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know. Jer33:3
•Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. James 1:5
•For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. Eph. 2:10
I am excited to see what God will do in our lives in 2022 because I know that everything that will happen has first passed through His loving, sovereign hand. I can face the future with joy, asking Him to reveal what He wants me to know and see.
15+ caregiving moms are also sharing their one word for 2022 in this year’s One Word Conference! Click here to learn more and use promo code “Sandra” for $5 off the ticket price!
