“What do you want me to DO God?”

Does anyone else ask that same question often?

Walking into the new year God gave me a word and I have been reflecting on it for 2023… but I’ve also spent time reflecting on the last year.

I spent more of my days last year in prayer asking, “what do you want me to do…”

But that wasn’t the question to ask… this year my prayer is,

“Who do want me to become? Who do you want me to become in whatever circumstance I may walk through.”

I’ve taken that question and filtered all of the crazy joys and sorrows of 2022 through it, which brought me to a place of closure and freedom. I think for many of us if we evaluate through the lens of, what we did for the year, then we end up feeling like we never did enough. That makes us constantly live in a cycle of, I need to do more. Which I don’t think is the heart of the Father for us.

Here are a few examples of how this reframing of doing versus becoming looks to me:

I know God has called me to prayer, but he doesn’t want me to DO prayer as activities to keep me busy, rather he’s after my heart, to become a woman of prayer day after day.

He doesn’t want me to check off my Bible reading as something I DO for the day, he wants me to BE with me! The question then is, How is his Word changing me to become more like him?

I even took this question and reframed motherhood, where I tend to put the most pressure on myself. It’s less about me doing things as a mom, but day after day, by God’s grace he is shaping me to become a more loving, kind, and Christ-like mom. (But let’s be honest, I have a whole l lot of growth left in this area 😆) The day my girls were born I didn’t become a perfect mom…. Every day I’m being refined in the process of becoming a mom… truly that’s God’s grace!

Lastly, my word of the year. This year I stepped into 2023 with the word of “light” completely reframed.

I won’t ask GOD through the year what do I need to DO to be light, I will ask, “how do I BE the LIGHT?”

I know much of the answer will be unfolded as I become more like him by being in his presence day after day.

“…So live as people of light!” (Eph 5:8)