Start with a word and a prayer

And so, it is time to start. January blows in with its cold rain and reminds us that time waits for no man. We are moved into the next season whether we like it or not. There are those of you who love this new place; embracing it with lists, goals and improvement plans. The unknown invigorates you. You own these new beginnings. And I always envy you.

Others of us, though, walk into it timidly; we stand on tiptoe and peer over the edge; longing for a glimpse of the ending before we embark upon this beginning. The unknown has a way of holding us hostage.

For me, it is always the questions that loom largest in the early days of a new year. What if I can’t do it all? What I make a wrong turn? What if I miss the thing I was meant to do? What if … ? I could go on, but you get the point. The fog settles in on the path ahead, and I struggle to get my bearings.

And so today, as we near the end of this first week of a new year, I offer you something simple to help us start: a word and a prayer.

I started this practice years ago when smart people who love words begin making a big deal out of it. Choose a word, they said. Choose a verse for your year and you’ll be amazed at how God will use it to guide you. I thought it was a gimmick; a way to sell books or gain followers. I scoffed and refused to play.

But then about five years ago, I did it, reluctantly. And, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was amazed. The word and the verse became a way to help me see what is often “un-seeable”; God at work in the everyday parts of life. It’s not a magic trick, but a way to train eyes and hearts; a filter through which the regular ole events of the day can pass. And in these years of beginning like this, it has become a way of reminding me that I’m not walking through this place alone.

My word this year is trust, and my verse is a reminder found in the middle of the Psalms “Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

And how did I come to know this, you might be asking. Well, there’s no secret sauce or Magic 8 Ball that helps you pick these things. I prayed. I read, and I studied. And ultimately, here’s why I picked this word and this verse. I’m not good at trusting the Lord my God. I trust fiercely in my own horses and chariots. I trust that if change is going to happen, if things are going to get accomplished, then I am going to have to buckle down and figure it all out. And that kind of trust is exhausting.

If I want real trust in a very real God, then I have to figure out how to hand over the reigns. So here we go, 2020. I’m stepping into this year practicing my trust falls. And learning that even when I get it wrong, Jesus will still be there to catch me.

So, maybe you think I’m a little nuts. It’s OK. Lots of people do. Or maybe you have your own resolutions, rituals, ways of walking into a new year. That’s all good. Wherever it is that you find yourself on this first Friday of 2020, I want to take a moment and offer you a prayer as it all begins again. Because whether or not you choose a word, make a resolution or write out your goals matters little to God. You know what does matter? You — your heart, your eyes, your soul. That’s what God wants. And he’ll come for you in whatever way you will see him best.

So, a little prayer for us as 2020 kicks off.

Lord, we come to you at the start of this new year; we, the over-thinkers, the under-prepared, and the ever- anxious. We are at the same time certain of our strength and amazed at our weakness. We want to need you, and we want to do it on our own. We are creatures far too easily pleased and never satisfied. Oh Lord, would you hear our prayer.

Just a few weeks ago we sang carols, lit candles and proclaimed the truth; Jesus, the Son of God came as a baby to dwell among us. We heard the story of the shepherds and the wise men and nodded teary-eyed at your coming, Lord. Immanuel, God with us.

But we struggle to see how it matters today. Help us find a song for now, Lord. Give us a candle in this present darkness. And open our eyes that we may see you as you truly are.

For you did not come to sleep in a manger and then be packed away as the new year carried on. You came for this day; for this challenge staring us down, for this decision we can’t seem to make, for this relationship we can’t fix, for this lonely ache that pushes on our chest.

You did not come just to dwell among shepherds in fields or wise men on camels, but to be among us in our very real places. Lord, as this new year begins, help us to start by letting you in.

Be in these our days; in our routines, in our work, in our words, our tears and our laughter. Help us learn to see you. Create in us clean hearts, renew in us right spirits,restore unto us the joy of our salvation. And may we never get over the gift of a Savior who loves us enough to come and be with us — here at the very start of a new year.

Alleluia. Amen.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).