Words for Every Year

It’s Word of the Year time again. I’m not sure who started the Word of the Year trend, but I do remember the way it seemed to spark and then catch fire, lighting people up with inspiration and focus at the turn of the year, when we seem to need those things most. The transition from festive December to January, with its cold and darkness, can deliver a big ol’ shipment of the winter doldrums if we don’t have something positive to focus on. I had my own Word of the Year for several years, and one year in particular, it gave me a footing I desperately needed (although I suspect that footing really came from the verse from which I took the word). To get to the point, I’m not here to disdain the Word of the Year practice. What I want to do is look at it as a piece of something much bigger–the Word of God.

But what I have realized over the years is that my words were always there–choosing a word to focus on didn’t mean the word was new–and likewise, my words do not leave me when their respective year ends. They are carried forward, an arsenal of sorts against hard days and times of exhaustion, against struggles and disappointments. They are comfort and sustenance, encouragement and strength. They are, in short, the sum of the promises of God.

Here is just a sampling:

• Rest – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
• Joy – “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Ps. 16:11)
• Peace – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
• Grow – “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” (1 Pet. 2:2)
• Contentment – “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:12-13)
• Purpose – “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.” (2 Tim. 1:9)
• Work – “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet and peaceful life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,  so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1 Thess. 4:11-12)

Scripture is filled with many more words we can gather and carry with us: love, forgiveness, patience, kindness, restoration, beauty, creation, passion, healing, redemption. While zeroing in on one word for a year might be what we need to help us focus our energies somewhere specific, through regular engagement with the Word of God–written for us, the ultimate guide to living well–we can access a whole glossary of words for every day, for every year. The Bible is God’s love letter to his children, filled with his wisdom, guidance, and promises to us.

When was the last time you simply opened the Word of God and allowed it to meet you where you are? If it’s been a while, I encourage you to begin again. If it was this morning, how did it impact you? Did the words wash over you, forgotten the moment your children began fighting over LEGOs or the laundry called? How can you recapture the power of Scripture to impact even the smallest, most mundane pieces of your everydayness? Here are a few ideas:

• Keep a Scripture commonplace book. This is simply a notebook in which you jot down verses that grab you, so you can easily look back at them and be reminded of their promises.
• Jot down verses you want to hold onto on sticky notes and place them around the house where you will naturally see them on a regular basis.
• Keep a notecard file of verses you can flip through.

As we move into 2020, we can choose one Word of the Year to be our inspiration, sure. But we can also remember there is a harvest of words to gather, words we can carry all the days of our lives on this earth, and we need only open his Word to find them.

Harmony Harkema has loved the written word for as long as she can remember. A former English teacher turned editor, she has spent the past nine years in the publishing industry. A writer herself in the fringe hours of her working-and-homeschooling mom life, Harmony also has a heart for leading and coaching aspiring writers. Harmony lives in Memphis with her husband and two small daughters. She blogs at harmonyharkema.com.

Photograph © Social Cut, used with permission