Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6 NIV)

A new year has arrived and with it the endless chatter on social media of resolutions. I gave up making resolutions several years ago and like to focus on a verse of scripture instead. This year I’ve decided to narrow things down even more by selecting one word to focus on. My pastor talked about this on Sunday and it makes sense.

Resolutions can become burdensome and often add additional stress to our lives. We strive to follow through with what we feel are good intentions that often become unrealistic expectations. By the time February rolls around, we are back to our old habits and feeling lousy because once again we failed. Choosing one word to focus is an easier way to work on moving forward with our goals for our spiritual, emotional, and physical health.

This year I am going to focus on the word confidence. I chose confidence because I need a constant reminder that I can be confident God’s promises are true. I need to be confident that God will not leave me or forsake me. I need to be confident that I can trust him for my health, my finances, my future, and my writing.

I’ve been a Christian for more than three decades, and I’ve seen God answer many prayers and work in wonderful and mysterious ways in my life. However, I struggled with a lot of doubt last year. Health issues are my greatest struggle, and when I don’t feel good I grow weary and discouraged. I start to doubt I can trust God regarding my increasing health issues and my future.

I also struggle a lot with confidence in my ability to follow through with things, like getting the rest of my weight off or finishing my book. Yet I know God’s word says I can do all things through him.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13 NIV)

I know God has called me to write, but I allow my own lack of confidence to get in the way of what he has called me to do. I have done well with weight loss this past year, but I still keep waiting to fail. I’ve always struggled with confidence in my ability to do things. It increased when my husband left me for another woman. I felt like he replaced me because I wasn’t good enough, and the downward spiral of my lack of confidence increasingly grew worse.

I saw a quote this morning that is really eye opening.

Satan knows what consumes us controls us ~ Lysa TerKeurst

For me, lack of confidence is one of the things that consumes me. As soon as another health flare up hits, I am instantly brought down. I start to fear and worry about the future. Satan knows my lack of confidence in God’s provision for my health issues and in my ability to perform the tasks God has given me can literally cripple me, and he uses it to keep me bound in a prison of defeat and fear.

Every day, I am writing the word confidence at the top of my planner to remind myself of where my focus needs to be in 2019. With God’s help, I will grow in confidence and rise above the doubts, fears, and insecurities that are preventing me from being the woman he has called me to be. One of my favorite verses sums up everything I need to face the new year with renewed confidence.

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30: 15 NIV)

I did a biblical word study on this verse several years ago and made the following notes in my Bible.

Repentance = Returning to God. Rest= lighting down. Salvation= to be open or free – a wide spacious place. Quietness= to lie quietly, to be undisturbed, calm. Trust means, “there is nothing more we can do.” Strength=victory.

What a powerful message packed into such a small passage of scripture! It’s always been one of my favorites. In 2019, I need to return to God. While I never left God and my faith remains strong, I grew careless with my Bible reading and prayer time. I need to be in the word and prayer every day. I love the meaning of rest – lighting down. Doesn’t that sound peaceful? Salvation means freedom. Think about being in a wide open space and being free, unencumbered by the cares of this world. Quietness. Who can’t use a little quiet time? How good does it feel to be calm and undisturbed? I love the meaning of trust – “there is nothing more we can do.” Stop worrying. Leave it all in God’s hands – the fear, doubt, and the things that make no sense. In the King James Version of the Bible, confidence is used in place of the word trust. Strength means victory. We can have victory over the things that consume us if we trust God.

The ending to the verse is sobering. “But you would have none of it.” The people God was addressing in this passage could have had all of these wonderful things but traded them all for their own sinful desires. They were rebellious and unwilling to listen to God’s instruction.

Let’s be honest. We all fall into the temptation to do things our way instead of God’s way at times. We trade in God’s blessings for the things of this world that leave us empty, worried, and stressed out. As we open the book to a new year, lets press on to know God more intimately. Let’s strive to obey all of his word, not just the parts we like. Lets’ trust him completely and rest in his promises. Let’s be confident that we can become the women he has called us to be.

What is one word you need to focus on this year to become the woman God created you to be?