(Post by: Lilly Hobbs)
In 2018, I felt like God was calling me to be more intentional in my personal Bible study. I had heard of people choosing to have a focus word that they studied in depth, and I thought I’d give that a shot. My 2018 focus word was ‘’Rock’’. However, I also decided that in the future I would have a focus quote and a focus Bible verse that went along with my focus word.
My focus word for 2019 is ‘’Trust’’. I think God laid that word upon my heart because I had been very fearful of the future and worried about the problems and struggles that life brings in general.
During that time, I had been inspired by a quote from Corrie Ten Boom who said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” God knew exactly what I needed to hear, and what I truly needed to focus on in this season of my life!
Also, just in case your wondering, my focus verse for this year is Psalms 125:1, which says, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.” NIV
As I started studying the word ‘’Trust’’, I understood why I had been so fearful about my future and my life. Elisabeth Elliot once said, “Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.”
You see, I thought that I had to have my whole life perfectly planned out. I thought that it was my job to handle all of the problems and struggles in my life.
But guess what I have come to realize?
I have realized that my life is not MINE; it’s actually God’s!
Isn’t that great news? We don’t have to worry or have fear about our future because Jesus is in charge, and He knows what is best. Not only are we free from fear, but we can replace that fear with trust in who God is.
Fear is an ugly and terrible thing to live in constantly; and because it’s such a terrible thing, we must replace it with something good. That something, is trust.
We don’t need to know what the future looks like, because we know who our God is!
Once I realized that I could replace my fear with trust in God (because I know who He is and how good He is) it totally changed how I look at my life and my future. Are there times I still worry? Definitely!
However, my trust in God triumphs over my fear and worry.
Now, you may be wondering, how do I know how to choose a word to focus on? My advice to you, is to consistently pray about it. I didn’t plan to focus on the words “Rock” and “Trust”. Jesus just laid them on my heart because He knew exactly what I needed to challenge myself on.
The craziest thing that God has done through these two years is that each year He has given me a new Christian song to listen to that goes along with my focus word and the things I am studying. I know, crazy right?!?!
AFTER I had chosen my focus word in 2018 “Rock”, I Am They came out with a song called: My Feet Are on the Rock.
This year, 2019, AFTER I had chosen my focus word, “Trust”, 7eventh Time Down came out with a song called: Trust.
These 2 songs came out AFTER I had chosen my word for that year. To me, God confirmed that I was focusing on exactly what He wanted me too. It’s so crazy to me that God will clearly confirm that you are where He wants you to be. He is faithful and so good!
SO WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?
~Tell me in the comment section if you are focusing on a specific word, quote, or Bible verse this year. If so, how has it impacted you?
~Do you think that it helps you to focus on a specific thing for a long period of time? Or do you like to jump around and study a bunch of different things in the Bible?
~How has fear affected you personally? Do you think you have replaced that fear with trust in Jesus?
The Few 
For the 2019 year I personally chose “Hope.” I chose this word because it has given me something to look for in the future. It has told me that I can only hope for thing and God will only give them to me in his will. God has told me to study this word only it has really help me personally.
We all fear, but we can fear less if we put trust into the Lord. For me fear has put me in stressful situations, when I fear to much I pretty much lose it. In those times I always ask for God’s help to calm me down. When he does I remember he has my life not me!
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Hope sounds like a great word to have chosen! It sounds like you are getting a lot out of it! I’m so proud of you. Keep studying his word!
That’s great that you can just hand God ur life and let him take control when things get stressful. We never know what to do in stressful times, but he does!
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I have not chosen a word to focus on. I feel like it is a very good idea to do so, I just haven’t had God give me a word. I honestly don’t want to rush it. I don’t want to just pick and not feel led.i think it would help so to have a word so that you didn’t get confused or forget what ur going over because changing my topic everyday gets things kind of jumbled up. I fear a lot. I fear many things. I try not to fear because I know God is with me, but I always get sucked into fear. I feel sometimes I put God instead of fear but other times I let the other side take control. I’m going to work on this!!!
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Isabelle, I am so glad that you are waiting till God gives you the word. I would just pray about it though. We all fear and sometimes we let fear take control but we can all work on it with putting God first.
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For my 2019 word I chose Faith. The Lord just laid this on my heart when I was trying to decide what to focus on. When I do my Bible study I go to the word Faith in the concordance of my Bible and I read the whole chapter that has the verse in it that talks about Faith. After I read that chapter I have a notebook where I write down every verse that I read that has the word faith in it. I feel like this really helps me to focus on something and be able to know what I have read and be able to study it a little more than if I were just to skip around in my Bible.
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That’s great Madie. It’s a really good idea to write the verses down so that you always have them and if you ever need to read them you have them right there!
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