The Foggy Future

2024 was a good year and one in which I was able to stick with my plan and accomplish most of my goals and I'm looking forward to 2025. I sat down yesterday and came up with some goals moving forward, but found it more difficult than I imagined it would be.

Some of that is because I'm a little uncertain about this year and feel foggy about my future. I usually have a good amount of clarity, but this year feels like I'm surrounded by fog. I don't like when I feel that way because it's unsettling when I'm not sure what the end result will be or where I'm headed.

However, I do know that I'm going to remain faithful to what I am doing already and keep trusting the Lord as I move forward. In the last blog post I mentioned that thrive is the word I'm focusing on, but I want to continue to keep that in the context of connecting. I'm not ready to let go of that just yet.

So as I came up with goals that centered around thriving they also include connecting to the Lord, to others and to the purpose God has for me.

I know my theme verses for this year come from the end of Psalm 92, but I sat down yesterday and took a look at the entire Psalm and jotted some notes.

Psalm 92

It is good to praise Yahweh, to sing praise to Your name, Most High, to declare Your faithful love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night, with a ten-stringed harp and the music of a lyre.

For You have made me rejoice, Lord, by what You have done; I will shout for joy because of the works of Your hands. How magnificent are Your works, Lord, how profound Your thoughts! 

A stupid person does not know, a fool does not understand this: though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be eternally destroyed.

But You, Lord, are exalted forever. For indeed, Lord, Your enemies—indeed, Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. 

You have lifted up my horn like that of a wild ox; I have been anointed with oil. My eyes look down on my enemies; my ears hear evildoers when they attack me. 

The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they thrive in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green, to declare: “The Lord is just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

Some thoughts on this Psalm:

It is good, beneficial, healthy for the soul to give thanks and to praise God. 

Because it is beneficial to the soul, I will give reflect on and declare God’s faithful love each morning and look back and reflect on His faithfulness at the end of the day. I do believe that doing this will help during those times when anxiety or worry threatens to derail me.

When we look at all the Lord has done, we cannot help but rejoice.

God’s faithful love – (chesed) – means lovingkindness. Often is a description of God’s covenant love, emphasizing the absolute fidelity and unwavering constancy.

Faithfulness translated means firmness, dependability, trustworthiness. 

The wicked or foolish person is like grass which withers quickly and disappears. 

Both trees in verses 12-15 show stability, and vitality which is in contrast to the grass which is short-term and withers up.

Cedar and Palm trees have roots that anchor them in place. They are strong and grow tall.

The fruit that we bear may be testifying to what God has done in our life.

Because many of the goals I came up with are so personal, I'm not going to write them here. But this year I do want to thrive in every area of my life as I stay connected to Him, my relationship with others and walk in the path God has for me. The reason I can do this is because God is just and righteous and He is my Rock even when life is full of uncertainty.