Reflections on My Word of the Year

Fitful in bed, I resigned my fruitless efforts to get another hour of sleep and crept into the living room at 5:50 am. The Christmas tree lights provided a warm glow for my path. God bless the inventor of light timers!

Room quiet, mind swirling, the tears started as I lowered myself to the couch with my Bible and journal. I’d just gotten home from the hospital the day before. Abdominal pain, an ER visit, CT scan, pain meds, a diagnosis, an overnight admittance, and a sore body from being in bed too long.

Friends were dealing with bad news too, and I needed God’s light to pierce through the darkness. So I prayed between tears, and I read Psalm 18, which was sent to me by a praying, co-suffering friend. David sang this Psalm the day he was delivered from Saul and his enemies. It begins:

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

Imagine the release of tension in David’s body and mind and the cries of relief and gratitude that overflow when he finally stops running, no longer looking over his shoulder.

The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me.

Enemies were closing in on him, yet David kept faithfully following God’s guidance. He gives God credit for his victory, for saving him and his people. He calls God:

My rock My fortress My deliverer My shield The horn of my salvation My stronghold My support My God

God is personal. David proclaims God’s power over nature and nemesis. God rocked the world, pressed in on David’s enemies, and “equipped [David] with strength.” 

With God, David could run against a troop of soldiers, leap over a wall, make him fast and agile like a deer, keep his way blameless, train his hands for war, steady his feet, and overtake his enemies.

So as I re-read Psalm 18 that quiet Tuesday morning, even though I was body-and-soul weary, I felt empowered and overwhelmed by God, my strength.

Looking back to the beginning of 2025, I chose light as my Word of the Year. For many, 2025 felt bleak. Reality’s thick fog often obscured the light, causing us to stub our toes, unable to see the path clearly.

Strained relationships Health battles Periods of waiting Unknowns where options A & B are both difficult

But if we focus only on the dark, we’ll miss the light breaking through.

For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. Psalm 18:28

God doesn’t ignore the darkness, He illuminates it. Darkness is the absence of light, but our God is omnipresent and eternal. Our suffering has purpose, and if we look for it and trust the Source of True Light, we can endure the darkness. We can take the next step in faith.

Like David, we can be equipped with God’s strength for the battles before us. Though our "momentary affliction” feels heavy and unending, God promises the unseen glory that awaits us is worth it!

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So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18