When God gives you a word anyway

Column Post by Lisa Easterling

I didn’t ask for a word this year. Not that I dislike the idea: In 2011 I “simplified”, and in 2012 God was “stirring”. But I decided that this year I was simply going to spend more time in prayer and the Word and not ask for a theme word for the year.

God had other ideas.

I was browsing Pinterest far too late last night and the word “repurpose” kept popping up. Well, being the fan I am of DIY and repurposing things from one use to another, of course the idea appeals. But by the twentieth time it popped up I had begun to grow suspicious. And that’s when God whispered, “You know this isn’t just about repurposing things, right?”

I pondered that for a moment and let it sink in. Not just about things. Okay. What else? Over the next hour or so God revealed truths that made it clear why He has given me the word “repurpose” for 2013, like it or not.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about refuting the lies of the Enemy of our Souls, about not buying in and allowing those falsehoods to trump God’s promises in my life. I guess you could say I’ve already been mulling over the idea of diffusing what the Enemy intends for evil and allowing the truth of God to prevail and keep me focused on the good He intends. I just hadn’t thought about it in terms of re-purposing. Until last night.

There is much in this life that needs re-purposing  Things we see and hear in the media and on the internet, things well-meaning friends and family members say, things that just seemingly come from some random place deep in our own heads. The origin of all these things is the same, and He hates us with a fierceness we can’t comprehend. But as sinister as his hatred is, it can’t compare to the bold and beautiful love of God, a love that compelled Him to lay down His life for us.

When we allow God to re-purpose destructive thoughts, when we “take every thought captive to Christ” (II Cor. 10:5), we fend off the weapons of the Enemy one more time, accept one less scar from his hateful hand. Every single time we shake our heads and refuse to fear, refuse to hate, refuse to be jealous, refuse to believe we are unlovable, refuse to return evil for evil, we defeat him one more time.

And with each win, we don’t just give God one more victorious notch in His Heavenly belt. We grow just a little bit closer to His heart and become a little more adept at warding off the lies the next time they show up. Because in this life, trouble will show up.

Ironically, my favorite number is 13, a notion I re-purposed a long time ago.

So in 2013, I am re-purposing.  I am allowing the Lover of my Soul to bring healing where Satan offers pain. I’d love your company along the way.

. . . . . . . . . .

Lisa Easterling is a lifelong resident of the Tampa Bay area alongside her husband Steve, five children, and two grandchildren. A pioneer for home education in Florida, she has served in various areas of Christian women’s, marriage, and family ministry for most of her life. Lisa is a lifelong writer and editor, and has taught life story, poetry, and other creative writing skills in classrooms and workshops for over 25 years. Her writings have appeared in such publications as Homeschool Alliance magazine, Heartbeat the Magazine, The Family Corner, and Home EdVenture. Lisa currently serves as Ministry Director and weekly columnist for Write Where It Hurts, where she enjoys inspiring and equipping women to write through their pain to healing and hope.

As writing coach for So You Want To Write, she loves helping others catch word fever by showing them they truly do possess the ability to write, by providing step by step tools to help them word their stories, and by holding their hand and building into them as a genuine friend along the way.

Lisa blogs at www.lisaeasterling.com and can be reached by following @writepraylove on Twitter or by emailing blue@lisaeasterling.com.
Read more encouraging stories from brave-hearted women here. Be sure to grab your free copy of inspirational quotes and writing prompts while you’re there. (Look over on the right hand side!)

6 thoughts on “When God gives you a word anyway

  1. My word for 2013 is Prepare. The physical, that’s easy enough to figure out, both in body and home. The heart , head and soul? I’ve been studying, praying and researching exactly what that means. I do know that I’ve been given the equation “Prepare=Strengthen”. So I’m going from there. 🙂

  2. Such an important message Lisa! I’m huge on “taking every thought captive”. Not to say I’m good at it, but to say I believe in the power of it. We may not be able to control the thoughts that come into our heads (though they will begin to conform to Christ the more you practice) but we can hold them captive and make them obedient to Christ. When we do that, we don’t stop at recognizing the lie. Like you said, we take what satan intended for destruction, and we allow God to use it for good.

    I’d love to hear more on how God uses this word in your life as your year unfolds!

    • I certainly haven’t arrived yet, either, my friend. In fact, most of the time I feel like I’m still just getting started. I think that “taking thoughts captive” thing must become a habit in order for it to become more natural, since in our humanness we tend to respond/react in the flesh (at least I do). And I agree–recognition is just the beginning and requires followup. I will do my best to share as the year goes along.

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