I Gotta Grip
Whew.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
I enter 2018 weak, but extremely thankful. The race I ran last year was hard. Now, ready or not, it’s on to another year.
Maybe you feel the same way. You barely crossed the finished line and the thought of starting over leaves you exhausted, wondering if God even sees you, rather than invigorated, anticipating new things He will do in the new year. Aren’t you thankful God knows our heart (“And God, who knows the heart… Acts 15:8). He sees you (El Roi, the God who sees) and He sees me.
My sweet Abba Father, knew I needed encouragement as I struggled to face the new year. Without any words spoken, God met me on the pages of His Word. He assured me that He knew how I felt, and showed exactly me how to face 2018.
So, take a new grip with your tired hands, stand firm on your shaky legs, and mark out a straight, smooth path for your feet so that those who follow you, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves but become strong. Try to stay out of all quarrels, and seek to live a clean and holy life, for one who is not holy will not see the Lord. Hebrews 12:12-14 LB
Though my hands are weak, my grip is tight. Though my legs are shaky, I have marked a smooth, straight path for my feet. It’s not path of goals of achievement, success, money or recognition. My hands are gripped on the Word of God and my feet stand on the promise to see Him.
Where’s your grip for 2018? What does your path look like it? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new year, and to bless you. Leave a comment to enter to win a copy of my new DVD Bible Study Curriculum Kit, Wait and See: A Six Week Study to Waiting Well. The principles in the study will help you wait with God and enjoy His presence as you keep your grip and footing in 2018. The winner will be notified by email January 9th.
Looking forward to 2018 with Read Thru the Word. Wendy, thank you for this note of encouragement – I’m looking forward to all that God has planned for me this year, but most of all to learn more about Him!
As I read those verses from Hebrews I did not realize it was scripture. It sounded like wise advise from a dear friend. Then, I realized, that is what scripture often is. Thank you for this Wendy, thank you for your obedience to God that blesses so many of us. Hebrews 12:14 will be my verse for 2018.
I am looking for 2018 to be a year of promises kept and promises received. Thank you Wendy for sharing your heart and being real with us. I want to have an intimate relationship with my Lord. I want it to be personal between me and God. I want to have a “Revelation Knowledge Faith” and not just a “Sense Knowledge Faith.”
Trust Him! Believe He will take care of me!
Thanks for the encouragement!
I’m not sure what my path looks like in 2018, but I know the One who does and my eyes are fixed on knowing Him more. I think that’s a good place to start. I love the LB version of Hebrews, I may need to get that translation. Prayers for you and yours as you continue to journey with our Lord! Have a beautiful day!
I am excited to begin our journey together today! I didn’t complete the reading last year but have a renewed spirit that this will be the year! God has placed the word JOY on my heart as my word for this year. I look forward to experiencing it with His grace, love and faithfulness. May God truly bless you, Wendy, and keep you safe in His arms.
Last year was hard and your encouragement gives me hope for this new year.
Looking forward to this new year … with hope for better health. I am anticipating gallbladder surgery very soon. Last year was tough … in sooooo many ways. Thank you, Wendy, for bringing us God’s Word and how to walk in His light. His Word … that’s what got me through last year’s trials!
What an awesome verse, Wendy, such great imagery to have a tight grip, to hold tight. I like imagining holding into God’s hand and letting him lead me into this next year. There were a few times in 2017 that I let go, thinking I knew where I needed to go, but thankfully he reached out and pulled me back to him. I prefer to let him lead! Blessings to you In 2018!
Thank you for your words of encouragement and transparency ! I am newly retired, finishing up with SEBTS this semester and waiting as you say Wendy ” With God “. I’m Trusting Him that His plans for me are good and I will Be still to hear His voice in 2018 !
Wendy, thanks for all your encouragemen. Thanks for being transparent about how we feel sometimes in life. I’m expecting to see God move in great ways as I enter into another blessed year. Thank you!
I am excited to start RTW again! The last 3 years life has been so crazy & uprooted with losing 3 family members in that time. I am excited to see God move in my life this coming year. I would love to lead a study at our church with this curriculum! Many blessings for your upcoming year Wendy! I do hope you’ll pop in on video periodically during RTW to update us on your life and how we can pray for you! Hugs!
The thought of starting Year 4 with RTW excites me and leaves me in awe at the same time. I love my time in the Word and have challenged myself to be more diligent in prayer each day as well. I struggle with the all or nothing, black and white personality and appreciate that Wendy is consistent with her reminders to keep up no matter what tries to distract us from our time with the Lord. Progress, not perfection! I also am working on remembering God’s timing is so much more important than my own! I don’t want to try and influence the events in my life or the lives of those around me and try to see it as helping God along!
I am hoping to be led [gently] down the path of 2018. Taking each day as it comes and asking for strength for that day only.
Thanks for the encouragement. Ready to start the New Year with expectation.
2018 is going to find me more intentional about sowing the seeds that I desire to sprout in my garden. God has been so good to me in spite of the many, many (did I say many.?) challenges in my life and finally I feel Him not just walking with me and truly leading me. Thank you, Wendy, for your weekly posts. When you encourage me, I am able to encourage others. Happy New Year!
I am not sure what the New Year will bring but my desire is to draw closer to God and to completely trust him with each new day. I am not looking at the year in whole but taking one day at a time and giving myself wholly to him!
I am looking forward to my second year of RTW! Last year was my first experience with the chronological Bible and I love it! 2017 was a difficult year for my family with lots of health challenges and relationship challenges. It was God’s Word that held me up and kept me centered. Thank you, Wendy Pope, for your leadership and encouragement. I am excited to see what God reveals to me this year…
God’s blessings,
Debbie Arena
For the first year I have a word to focus on: Grateful.
Thank God for his work in you. I have learned so much this year and am looking forward to more. God bless you in all you are doing this year.
I’m coming into 2018 weak and weary from many trials at the end of 2017. I’m expectant for this year to be better!
You summed up my feelings on 2017 precisely. I began 2018 with RTW right after midnight. Knowing that God was always there, hovering over the darkness and deep waters, brought such peace. I am looking forward to 2018.
I’m holding on to my mustard seed because satan can’t have it. GOD has given me many trials but I strive to be faithful because I know HE is greater then all I go thru. It is not easy some days but I pray 2018 brings relieve and comfort and joy in Him. The ability to rest and breathe and trust fully giving upfully. It’s so much easier to say then do.
For 2018, I want to do better with RTW this year. I want to do better in all aspects of my relationship with Jesus and learn to hear his voice and obey what he is asking me to do.
For the first time in a long time I can honestly say I have no clue what 2018 holds for me. However,I do know that I want to trust and believe God in ways I never have before. I want to stop depending on me to make things happen and wait on His perfect timing for it all. How will I do this? I pray and hope that with His help I would….
1. Surrender (constant, one moment at a time).
2. Taking Him at His word (not just reading it but believing it for my own life) and
3. Prayer (pray without ceasing).
Thank you Wendy.
We me and my elderly father have been through hurricane irma and too much suffering we need 2018 to be the year of many breakthroughs!
I am praying for a better year. My husband fighting cancer has been an extremely hard, uphill battle. I have struggled a lot trusting God through this all. Praying I become closer and accept what God has written for our stories . I too hold the mustard seed asking God to move mountains in our lives. God Bless
Knowing that the Lord is sovereign and will never leave me is what I am going into with this year. Thankful for the midweek worship songs and encouragement I get from you posts.
My path in 2018 is uncertain, but in a good way. I feel like I have so many options before me and it’s exciting and scary all at the same time! One thing I know is not optional…I HAVE TO get out of my comfort zone this year! I have a great life, but it’s comfortable…..and slightly boring! God is calling me to do more, to be more and to do that I’m going to have to step outside of my comfort zone and TRUST God!
I’m not sure what 2018 will bring. I know various parts and some plans but I’m not sure what God’s plan is. I want to follow His plan no matter what He asks. I finished RTW for the first time. It was absolutely amazing. Wendy, thank you for being so real with us.
Having recently taken up rock climbing, this verse takes on a whole new meaning. Life often feels much like rock climbing, uncertain, unsure footing, no strength to go on and no clear path. But if we tighten our grip and hold fast to His word, the path will become sure. Man did my legs shake in both climbing and life. Here’s to a year with a firm grip and steady legs!!!
2017 has been a difficult year at my job. But 2018 is guaranteed to bring a change. I see the light at the end of the path although I don’t know how long the path is or what the light is. My verse for the year however is: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19 NIV
Happy New Year Wendy! Thank you for these wonderful words of encouragement for the new year. Absolutely love the passage from Hebrews and I’m looking forward to all that God has for me in 2018. I would love to read your book and do the Bible Study. Thank you for all that you do ?
Thank you for sharing Wendy! And a Happy and blessed New year to you! Yes, I feel the same way. I just want more of God. More time in His word. Studying, reading, memorizing scripture, and dwelling in Him. This Bible Study and curriculum would mean so much to me! Thank you!
My path is one filled with so many uncertainties. I will begin the parent journey and as so many before me, I feel beyond excited but completely overwhelmed with the task of motherhood. A process I will have to take day by day or minute by minute, unlike my plan in advance nature. A time to wait and rely on God and that He will give me what I need when I need it (not necessarily when I think I need it).
Love this verse in Hebrews! I received so many blessings in 2017, one of which was retirement.
Anticipating 2018 and what it will bring. I’m looking forward to having more time to take advantage of studies through your site as well as others through Proverbs 31 ministries. Thank you for your ministry!
Dear Wendy,
So beautifully said. I share the same thoughts- 2017 was brutal. For 2018 my eyes and my heart and my mind are fixed on His Word. I want to see Him. I want to feel Him in my life. I love the verse you shared. Wendy I play RTW every day in the office during lunch or whenever I can catch a small break. You encourage me (and others-men- who happen to be in the office talking to the boss and I have noticed they get quiet so they can listen). My husband has even commented on your lessons! You are changing lives! Thank you for being a steadfast woman of God.
2017 is not a year I would care to repeat. God grew me more in 2017 than ever before. I have learned to trust Him in ALL THINGS, and I am still in the waiting.
Happy New Year Wendy! I’m praying that 2018 will be the year I break through my fears and deepen my TRUST in the Lord.
I’m hoping that in 2018 I’m drawn closer to Jesus. Started my first RTW and anxious to get to know Him.
Happy 2018❣️I am looking forward to this year as a year to dig deeper into His word and becoming stronger in living my life so as others will see Christ thru me and be drawn closer to Him. God bless you Wendy ❤️
I am with you, ending 2017 totally exhausted and the thought of starting another race is daunting….but the second I feel weak, I get a reminder from God (like this post) to hold steady and continue to rely fully on Him, and even if he has to carry me, I will make it through another race!
Here’s to hoping I win this freebie to help with all that and share it at my church 🙂
Dear sister in Christ, I am blessed to be a part of the First5 community and your candor and comfort, with exhortation and encouragement helps me in my walk with Jesus. I found your blog through the Dani Pettrey blog and feel the Lord led me here. I recently lost my best friend in a sudden death. This community of women helps me feel not alone and the Lord is my comfort at present. I look forward to reading your words and hearing your voice this year.
This challenges me to be aware of where my “grip” is for this next year. Love this verse, will have to post it somewhere.
I watched your live facebook video today where you shared the verses in Hebrews. Isn’t it wonderful how God will open up verses to us in a new way even if we’ve read them many times before? I love it! Looking forward to your continued sharing this year and I’m striving to study more in 2018.
My “word” for 2018 is R E S T
I am in such need of true rest, physically/emotionally/spiritually! I have a home business, an adult special needs “child” that drains me in every way. I am learning to observe a Sabbath (have heard it for years, but will actively pursue it for myself, guilt-free), and I especially want to learn how to lean in and rest in God. His faithfulness, His love, His goodness and His mercy. Looking forward to choosing joy and experiencing supernatural rest❤
I just read your comment and my word(s) for 2018 are Shabbat Shalom. Rest & Peace especially for my soul. Resting in the Word so I can hear from and be more in tune with God.
Father God, I just lift up your daughter for Shabbat in you! Give her a deep rest that only you can give and peace that surpasses all understanding. She loves you Lord and is your servant. Thank you for her heart for you! Bless her and her family in this new year! In the name of Jesus I ask and believe for receiving!
Christina, thank you thank you for your prayers and sweet words. Blessings to us both sweet sister!
Happy New Year! I am looking forward to see what God has planned for me this year. I am just finishing up your Wait and See devotion in the Bible app. This study is such a great comfort to me.
I can totally relate to the waiting. God’s timing is perfect. The world would have us think that things need to happen quickly and fall into place. That is not always the case. Most of the time we need to wait on God, for it is in the waiting that we struggle, pray, grow and we seek Him. It’s enjoying the journey…the good and the hard. Knowing that the things the Lord has put on my heart may take years relieves a lot of the pressures on me. Tending the sheep and the pasture is part of His plan. It’s the small daily steps we take and then look back and are amazed at all that God has done in us and thru us. All for his Glory!
2018 has already surprised me in many ways. In tune with God through the Holy Spirit means I am closer than I have ever been before. Wendy, I too am gripping the Word for everything. I facilitated a women’s Bible study last year that proved to be amazing and lead me and many others to hearing and knowing we are hearing from God. We will begin another study in March and I just know this will be great as well. I never knew God would use me for this but the glory of His hand is on me! I’ve been asked to speak at a women’s retreat and that wowed me as well! God is using this cracked vessel to do so much and I’m excited to see all the awesomeness in 2018! I am so thankful to Him that He has surrounded me and my family with a wonderfully amazing community of believers.
You have blessed me over the past few years on First 5 with your open honest heart and your love for Jesus! I look forward to “Wait & See”! You are amazing! Keep up the great work you are doing for the Lord and may you and your family be blessed!
Waiting to see promises fulfilled but much stronger in the wait. Looking forward to all God has for me this year. Love the verse.
I LOVED this book when I read it, and I would truly love to win the full study to be able to go deeper in to this area of my life. I do not wait well, but I am still “waiting”, so learning more about doing it well would be a blessing.
What does 2018 look like for me?
I, like so many others, had a year of testing and trials in 2017.
After having had my own business for almost 20 years, I sold it on December 22, 2017….and I have a peace that this was God’s plan for me!!
I’ve grown closer to my/our Lord and have heard from God in a completely new way..Praise His Name. Each day, I know I must strive to decrease and ask God to increase in me. Each day I pray a prayer of surrender to God and ask Him, through the Holy Spirit, to live through me, love through me and speak through me.
In 2018, I’ve been impressed with the thought of Change. I believe God is trying to lead me into being changed, by His grace and love, into being more like Christ. Also, to be more into His Word, and to memorize His Word!! My prayer is… God please be specific as You speak to me in exactly what You are asking me to change within my life and I trust You in all situations in my life!! Praise be to God!!
Happy New Year to all of you, our RTW Family!!
2017 was a very tough year full of many different losses. I’m thankful for a Father that has held me while I wept and never left my side even when I drifted. I’m looking forward to 2018 with a heart of complete faith in the One who can restore and work all things for His glory. I want to seek Him on a daily basis through treading His Word and prayer in order to allow His Spirit to do restore, heal, and redeem my sorrowful soul.