What's Your Word????

Today I watched a movie and one of the questions the main character was asked was, what is your word? What word describes you? Not what you do, but who you are at this moment. What word describes your state of mind, your desires, your season in life. After watching this, I was prompted, inspired if you will, to ask myself the same question. What is my word?

The first word that came to mind was…searching. Not searching for truth or God but searching for purpose. I am certain that God has a specially designed “purpose” for my life. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I am able to completely embrace the reality that he is in control at all times that finding his purpose may become a bit more clear to me. In the past I have created purposes for myself to feel accomplished and fulfilled….to feel busy. But getting things done, is not always purpose. I am guilty of feeling defined by what I do. I work so much that it’s hard not to embrace the mindset that I am my job. I am good at my job, therefore it defines my strengths, my weaknesses, my abilities…you get the picture. But what is so amazing is that God believes in me more than I’ll ever believe in him (I stole that quote from my pastor). He is far more aware of the endless possibilities of me than I ever will be. Trusting Him to bring out all of those possibilities is my job…but often, I trust my own futile attempts at being purposeful, than trusting Him to put me in the right situation to bring out the very best in me. I guess, in a way my word may always be searching. Because within one purpose there more than likely is another…and I’ll always be wondering if I am indeed fulfilling His plan for my life. I want to always be aware enough to look for purpose in every situation and encounter in my life, but of course this will require much thought and effort on my part.

After much more thought I also realized that knowing your purpose, finding your purpose is one thing, but being at peace with it is another. My second word is shalom, the Hebrew word for peace (one word just wasn’t enough!!!). The Hebrew verb, shalom, means to be complete, perfect and full. There is no way to obtain true shalom without the direction of God in my life, for He is peace. I suppose the challenge to all of this is being able to be OK with each transition, each step, each glitch, each glimmer of hope, ach season in my life. Peace isn’t or shouldn’t be determined by circumstances, but by knowing that no matter what, God is good, He knows what’s best and through it all he has my very best interest at heart. However, this is much easier said than lived. Quite often, we allow life and all of the crap that it brings to determine our peacefulness. It’s easier to allow our drama or lack thereof to dictate how we “feel.” So, maybe my word or words should be searching for shalom. Because at the end of the day, no matter my purpose, no matter my situation in life, if I lack I peace, I’m miserable.

So what’s your word? Now that another year has come to an end, maybe this is a great time for you to discover your word…and possibly to discover how to obtain true shalom in your life.