O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord? You are entirely faithful. Psalm 89:8
At our staff Christmas party, our senior pastor stood to give a word of thanks and encouragement to the staff of his church. That party was December 9th and I am mulling over his words still.
Pastor asked us, “What words would you use to describe 2013?”
Immediately I felt a huge sense of guilt. Because even though this year has been laced with tremendous joy and abundant blessing, 2013 was marked by great stressors and hardships. Without going into all of the personal details of our lives and bore you to utter tears, in general, we had to fight hard to maintain peace, rest and order in our lives. And many days we failed miserably.
I wish joy, abundance and blessing were my first thoughts. But I had to go searching for those words. Yes, I knew they were under the piles of my year of memory… But they didn’t come to the surface first.
Then Pastor spoke this truth… “I know many words ran through your minds just now, but ONE WORD describes the activity of the Lord in all of our lives.… FAITHFUL.”
Yes. God has been entirely faithful. He was faithful in Brent’s first full year as the Young Adult Pastor of our church. God was faithful in the boys’ new school year. God was faithful in every parenting struggle and sibling rivalry. God was faithful in our finances and providing creatively for our every need – even to the penny. God was faithful the morning Mamaw went to the hospital in an ambulance and all the uncertainties surrounding her health. God was faithful to bless us with babysitters when our marriage needed attention. God was faithful to meet me in my puddle of tears all the days I felt like the biggest mommy-failure, ever.
God was faithful to give us great joy even when joy made no sense. He was faithful to give us peace when peace wasn’t present.
[God] is entirely faithful. Psalm 89:8b
So I ask you this morning, on this Eve of New Year’s Day… “What words would you use to describe your 2013?”
Difficult? Abundant? Demanding? Blessed? Struggling? Joyful? Saddening? Painful? Persevering?
Reflect on each month of 2013, and as you do, recall the Lord’s faithfulness in the midst of each memory.
He was ever-present then. He is ever-present now.
And He is ever-present in 2014… waiting for us to attend Him.
Share your words in the comments below…
Happy New Year!
Becky Crenshaw 
Freeing, heartache, joy, laughter, loss, friendship, hope…. 2013 has been a roller coaster year for me. Surely did not end the way I thought it would but one thing has always remained: God’s faithfulness. So very true. He has been my rock through it all, be it good or bad. (Funny, my current blog post speaks about this very thing!) Thanks for sharing, Becky, and allowing me to reflect some more on God’s amazing grace and constant faithfulness.
Love your blog! Have a great New Year!
Hey Becky! The Lord gave me the word “newness” at the beginning of the 2013 and it described 2013 to a T! However, as I reflect today. Although there were many difficulties and hardships this year as you know, I have to say the best newness was a newness in my relationship with the Lord this year. That is worth it all. He is awesome! Love you girl! I have been doing so much better and am looking forward to all God has in store for 2014!! My new word for 2014….Boldness!