Moving Into 2023 with Purpose

So many parts of the book of Job are challenging for me. There is the part where it describes Job as a righteous man, yet God allowed him to suffer. There are also the parts that deal with his tremendous loss and grief. Despite Job serving others and giving God his best, all the pain he endured is hard to wrap my mind around. Things I admit I have wrestled with as I moved to step into 2023.

I have wrestled with the fairness of the book of Job. Still, when you read the words God spoke to Job near the end, it brings you to the realization that life may not always be fair, but God is always just. We may not always understand God’s ways, but we can always trust his heart, for his heart will always seek to do us good.

I would have loved to have a long conversation with Job a couple of years down the road from the time his trial had ended. God had given Job double what he had before and gave him more children to fill his house with fullness and love. I’m sure all the good things God had given him would have made for good conversation, but there would be additional questions that I would want to dive into with him. For there was more God would have imparted to him than the eye could have seen.

Job learned many lessons from his trial. How to show mercy and compassion, be the kind of friend who knows how to be present in a time of need, and trust God through the hard stuff would have been a few lessons I am guessing Job could have written a book on. Not to mention how best to counsel those going through the loss of children and how to stay positive when your life didn’t turn out anything like you thought it would. But instead, God took Job on a journey to wisdom, and He knew exactly how to get him to that destination.

Job 28: 23-24 says, “But God understands the way to wisdom, and he knows its location. For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.” God knew what it took to bring Job to the level of wisdom he purposed for him. He knew precisely how much heat to apply to Job to come forth like gold. He knew how much Job would have to lose to bring Job to a higher level of peace and contentment and a deeper relationship with his maker.

God knows you, and he knows me. He has the hairs of our head numbered, and he knew us before we were born. He even knows when our tears fall, for he catches our tears in his bottle. Yet, this same God knows all our thoughts afar off. This same God who knows us so well also knows what it takes to teach us wisdom and what it takes to bring us to understanding.

Jesus learned obedience from the things that he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8) I wish there were other ways to learn these hard life lessons, but this is how we will gain this kind of wisdom and knowledge.

For it is the person who goes through hardship and comes out on the other side that I want to talk to when I go through my own hard roads in this life. I want to walk down memory lane with the people like the Hebrew children who walked in the fire and came out not smelling of smoke. People like Daniel, who spent a night in the lion’s den, Esther, that knew the true meaning of such a time as this, and Sarah, who had to wait for their promises until they were way up in years. Then don’t forget the people like Paul, who were locked in prison and still reached the world with the gospel through his written word. Lazarus who got up and did some walking out alive even when death was imminent because Jesus had called him forth. These are the kind of people I want to talk to on my hard days.

I’ve walked a few hard roads especially over the last few years. Walking in the pit of Multiple Sclerosis with a loved one hasn’t been a walk in the park and one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But I also know I am walking each step with Jesus, and this road leads us somewhere. It may lead the way to wisdom and its exact location that we would have never discovered otherwise.

The things I am learning will be things I can use to teach others on their hard days. We always go through the hard stuff with purpose. I trust that God has a reason for my pain and a purpose for my suffering. Yes, choosing to believe He is leading “me” somewhere.

Last year my word was “Move,” and I posted a picture on my social media platforms of a pair of little red sneakers getting ready to do just that. I was excited, thinking God would move some of the hard things out of my way. Little did I know God had something entirely different in mind, and it would require a different pair of shoes entirely. The word move was about to teach me the same lesson it had taught Brother Paul. His words from Acts 20:24 (KJV) would become my anchor in 2022, just like God knew it would when He planted the word move into my heart.

This verse reads, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24 (KJV) So this verse was my anchor this year, just like God knew it would be. And by the grace of God, none of the things I faced this year did move me. I did change shoes this past year because I needed something more fit for the rocky terrain God was walking me through. But I am still standing praising my Jesus because of Grace.

At first, I was apprehensive about praying for God to give me a word this year. That is until God spoke the word “Encourage” into my heart along with the particular verse, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) God went above and beyond to confirm it to me by having two different friends send me gifts with this very verse, not knowing that was what God had given me for the New Year.

I admit I wonder where I will find wisdom this year and where it will take these feet of mine. I plan on changing my shoes again as I step into 2023 with confidence and faith in the goodness of God to encourage my heart this year as I step out to inspire others. No matter where it leads, I trust God will leave me much encouraged in 2023.

Have you asked God for a word this year? I would love to hear your word and pray together about where God will lead us in this brand New Year.

As I see it, 2023 will be a good year and a year to look forward to with great expectations.

Feet, get ready. 2023 here we come!

See you in the field,

Susan