Many of you are just like me in that you long to hear God\u2019s voice.\u00a0\u00a0At times I have felt like my life has been a perpetual process of limping along between destinations that have been revealed through the Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0It goes like this; God speaks, sometimes I listen, when I do listen, sometimes I obey.\u00a0\u00a0The past year has been a beautiful process for me as God has led me out of a season of depression into new health in every area of my life.\u00a0\u00a0I am in a better place emotionally, relationally and spiritually.\u00a0\u00a0My family life is great, my ministry is challenging me in new ways and my love affair with God is strong and stable.\u00a0\u00a0Our church has entered into a time of major transition as our lead pastor retired early due to health issues and throughout it all God has continued to faithfully bring me into a new season full of hope and opportunity.<\/p>\n
This year at the youth workers connection we were encouraged to come before God asking for a word that would define our 2012. It was a twist on a new years resolution that places God at the center of our focus for the next year.\u00a0\u00a0Everyone wanted a good word.\u00a0\u00a0I was longing for something like hope\u2026or growth\u2026anything that spoke of a really easy year.\u00a0\u00a0I got\u00a0endure<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0At first I chose to believe that I hadn\u2019t really heard from God and that\u00a0endure<\/em> was something I had made up in my head.\u00a0\u00a0So I took a deep breath, whispered some of my favorite Psalms that Ioften use to center myself on God and listened again.<\/p>\n Endure.<\/em><\/p>\n God spoke that word to my heart and in that moment I knew that like it or not this was my word.\u00a0\u00a0When you get a word like\u00a0endure<\/em>, you immediately assume that rough roads are ahead.\u00a0\u00a0Why would God give me a word like endure just when everything was going so well?\u00a0Can\u2019t a guy catch a break?\u00a0\u00a0I went back to my hotel that night and looked it up on my phone.<\/p>\n en\u00b7dure<\/em><\/strong>\/en\u02c8d(y)o<\/strong>\u035d<\/strong>or\/<\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
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