Word of the Year Wrap-Up: Rest (2024)

I realized coming into 2023, that I had tons of exhaustion on all fronts… physical, emotional and mental but I truthfully didn’t realize how far back this exhaustion had gone. I kind of viewed it as a side effect of my auto-immune diseases and my body going haywire but I purchased the book “Sacred Rest” because I knew I was burnt out and had been living on autopilot for a while. At first, I 100% saw this as a step to get back to my “old self”... I was wanting to take back my “Martha” existence, not learn to live with a “Mary” perspective but as the concept of rest began to show up everywhere I decided that I should focus on Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” 

As I began looking towards 2024 I knew rest would be my focus and I was actually anticipating learning how to sit at the feet of Jesus peacefully and just be. However, if you listened to Hey Y’all: The Podcast’s Word of the Year episode in January of 2024 then you know that the Lord quickly and directly put the kibosh on my Kumbaya ideal. No, everywhere I turned was Exodus 14:14 and I did not like it at all! Why you might ask? Because that verse says, “The Lord will fight for you. You only need to be still.” which is lovely except if the Lord had to fight for me there had to be a battle and I didn’t want one. I liked how my life was going for the most part and this was terrifying to me, especially because I knew exactly where this battle would lay. I knew it before the dark clouds started to rumble.

So when 2024 started I wasn’t shocked to find a huge challenge in my pathway. Ultimately, it was a complex situation that brought up old wounds and insecurities, caused damage to areas I was working to heal, left me emotionally reeling, caused physical effects and Lord knows I’ve cried over it more than I did teaching during COVID which is saying something. Even though I expected a battle, the way this played out and how it struck at my vulnerability in a nasty way shook me. It’s easy to say you’re “healed” or something isn’t an issue until someone directly looks at you and tells you that it’s an issue. It can feel a bit like emotional whiplash…You question a lot but it can also reveal your foundation.

For me, this “battle” was like worst case scenario choice… It was my “anything but that Lord” but by the time I got to February I was certain that this was part of the reason it was going to be the main battlefield for a while… not because God was punishing but rather because it was an area God had blessed and I had stepped out in faith in so many ways that I felt like the biggest target for the enemy. I actually put off facing the battle because I dreaded the outcome and even that became a lesson in rest… Every conversation with the Lord ended with Him saying, trust Me… rest in Me… let Me fight your battles. 

And as much as I dreaded it, I eventually had confidence to face it in a way because I knew it was going to be bad but I knew the Lord was with me. Looking back I realize that I was given the option of facing it head on or not and I chose to do it… a little late… but I was brave. Five years ago I wasn’t brave enough to walk across a room and now I was bravely facing something I dreaded with confidence knowing I was not going to like the outcome and I was ok with that. Like I chose it in a way because I knew that was the most loving thing I could do and the wisest even though I didn’t understand what the purpose was BUT then I had to rest in it. Choosing a battle is one thing but resting as the feet of Jesus while He is the Mighty Warrior is a challenge in and of itself. 

This big battle and the ripple effect happened within the first few months of the New year so I’ve had months now to gain a new perspective on resting during these times and I was shocked to realize that I was already fighting a ton of other battles that the Lord had wanted me to rest in for years, in some cases, but I didn’t even recognize them as such. Also, because I knew what moment was coming though not the specifics, I began 2024 praying for peace, wisdom and discernment. There are a lot of areas that I knew I had begun healing in that when challenged I had the tendency to run back to what was status quo so I didn’t want that to be my response. I want to honor God with my life, especially in the times when people expect something different out of you. 

As someone who says “yes” way too much and has been described as a one woman show, I thought I would struggle with physically being still, you know? So I was shocked by how much of my “rest” lesson has been emotional and mental. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve learned and practiced the practical stuff of saying “No” without guilt or taking a nap when tired but I’ve also worked on things like creative rest and restoring my soul. Working to become the version of me that the Lord intended and not the one society expects all the time. 

Finally, I realized fairly early on what my word for 2025 would be because it is a culmination of the last few years and directly related to “rest” in a way that I couldn’t have imagined. We did a podcast episode not too long ago that asked us to sum up our year with one word and I chose “prelude” because that is what this whole thing has felt like… an introduction to the next chapter or moment. 

I know that if I had not gotten to the point of rest… God’s version of rest…. I wouldn’t be able to take hold of what 2025 is bringing, actually or metaphorically. It took me far longer into 2024 to realize that my journey with rest, which I thought was about being exhausted, was really a journey about control and letting go. Open hands that hold things loosely yet so expectant for what the Lord will do. And as much as all of my battles sucked but especially the big one this year… I can see the blessing of them as well. I see Genesis 50:20 and I am so thankful that I see how the Lord is using the bad for my good…