Every year, Port City Community Church (PC3) challenges us to choose one positive, measurable word to guide the coming year. Rather than focusing on your previous failures, this approach encourages you to embark on a year of change that can really only happen when you decide walk with God a little more closely than you have before. They call this My One Word, and I have enjoyed the push it has given me to become better for the last 4 years.
Last year I chose an interesting word. Chazown. I thought it was cool cause it sounds cool and I knew that if I was going to live a life with purpose I would need to work on this. But it was harder than I thought.
Chazown means vision. Namely, lining my vision for my life up with God's vision for my life.
What I discovered, however, was that Chazown was too big for one year. Honestly, it may be more than two years in process. I did discover some things about my own chazown this year...but first, I had to submit my desires for my life to Him....
So, I think a more accurate description of my 2010 is submit. What a word. At the beginning of last year I can honestly say I was struuuuuuuuuuggling with this. It is hard to submit your desires when you think you know exactly what you want WHEN you want it. God promises that he will give us the desires of our heart if we put him first (Psalm 37:4). However we often find that God has different timing than we do.
Our society has a lot of preconceived notions about what this word really means. Many women loathe the word, out of fear that it means all we can be in God's eyes are humble frail creatures without a mind of our own. What people fail to realize is that submission isn't about power, it is about love.
God calls us to love so deep that one will risk his/her own dreams, desires, even life, to bring happiness to the other person. If you trust that the person who loves you will do absolutely anything to protect you and will always put your best interest above their own, submission is easy.
God loved us so much that he gave up his own son to die on he cross for us. Jesus loved us so much that he gave up his life for us.
And if submitting to God is tough...submitting to an imperfect human being is even more difficult.
But that doesn't mean we don't try.
(If you still think the word submit is a dirty one, I highly recommend Rob Bell's book "Sex God". Chapter 6 deals specifically with this topic).
So, this year is Chazown - Part 2. I have chosen perseverance as my word, because submitting, like everything else, is not an easy thing to do. Anybody can lead a healthy balanced life for a week. Anybody can be kind and generous and loving and submissive for a day or two. But perseverance requires more.
I am looking forward to how my new word will push me to be more like who God created me to be. I expect challenges along the way, but that is half the fun! Most years, around April, I get excited about being almost "done" with my word. Then, God usually throws me a curve ball and introduces my word in a way I didn't even expect. When I get to the end of 2011, I can't wait to see the person that I have become as I continue to allow God to shape my heart.
