Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:18-19
Happy New Year! I thank God for enabling my loved ones and I to see 2022, and I thank God for you.
Isaiah 43:18-19 is my theme scripture for the year. A theme scripture is not something that I planned, but God has His special ways of communicating His will to all of us. We just have to have a listening ear and be receptive to His will and way for our lives. In my specific situation, a Facebook memory appeared in my newsfeed on New Years Eve, reminding me that I posted the scripture above 11 years ago in 2010. I love it when God allows past me to encourage the present and future me. God used the Facebook memory to initially get my attention, but He did not stop there. I decided to tune into the watch night service at my friend’s church, First Baptist Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, MD, before praying in the new year and low and behold, the pastor’s message came from Isaiah 43:18-19. That was confirmation I could not ignore, which is why this is the topic of my first post (I had other plans).
Reflecting on Isaiah 43:18-19, I realized that this blog, RefinedPromise.com, is epitome of this scripture for me. God gave me the vision for RefinedPromise.com in 2010 and I purchased the domain name on October 2, 2010. Since 2010, I have made several attempts to launch, but they were all unsuccessful. I was so focused on everything else related to the blog (design, features, funding, etc.) that I put writing, which is the primary role of any blogger, on the back burner instead of doing what God called me to do and trusting Him to handle the rest. Sometimes, I can get in my own way because I am a big planner and like to feel in control. A part of the procrastination was also fear. Although I have written academic articles and have several publications, I never really considered myself to be a writer. I was afraid I would be inconsistent in posting new articles either due to busyness or simply running out of topics to write about.
You may be wondering, what changed in the last 11 years. Well, the last 11 years were filled with ups and downs and plenty of cycles, but I can say I learned to “let go and let God,” especially within the last 30 days. RefinedPromise.com is one of those goals that I like to refer to as a “faith goal”. Yes, we need to have faith in God to help us through all of life’s missions, no matter how great or small, but a faith goal is a goal that God has placed on your heart, that is completely beyond you and out of your comfort zone. I know I can only go but so far with planning this one. I will need to depend on Christ every step of the way, taking it post by post and trusting God to continue to place new topics on my heart to write about and share.
Do you have any faith goals that God has placed on your heart? If you do, I encourage you to write them down and pray over your goals. I invite you to also share them by writing them in the comment section below. Others could have similar goals and aspirations, and we can all pray for and help one another along the way.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for letting me live to see a new year. Thank you for speaking to me and using me for your glory. Please help me to always have a listening ear and a receptive heart as you direct my path. Please strengthen my faith in You, removing all fear and doubt. Please help me to keep my focus on You in all circumstances, trusting that you will make provisions in my time of need as I strive to do all that You have called me to do. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
