The new year is upon us. Over the past week or two, we have been reminded how each year is the start of a new thing. We get to start over, hopefully to achieve our goals by the end of the year.
A fresh start, a new beginning, is truly a wonderful gift.
But just before the old year ended, something stirred deeply within me and brought me to a familiar verse:
“Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” (Psalm 139:15-16, NASB)
God did more than simply form our bodies and personalities. He planned and determined our days from start to finish. What may this mean for us?
This could mean:
- He has ordained how many days our lives would be.
- He has planned what He would like for us to do or achieve in our lifetime.
Knowing God loves us deeply and intimately should bring the reassurance that His plans and purposes for our lives are good, and for our good. We can live out His plans with excitement and anticipation each day for we will experience fulfillment in His plans.
“Our responsibility is to yield ourselves to Him daily, ponder His thoughts found in His Word, and walk in the Spirit.”
(from The Wiersbe Study Bible, page 889)
Just like that, I realized my word for 2026 was to be “surrender.” Surrender is to yield to the to power or control of another. The only one I want to surrender to is God.
So what is it we are to surrender to God?
Our plans. Our families. Our dreams. Our purposes. Our churches. Our minds. Our hearts. Our goals.
Every day. Every moment. All of our lives are recorded in His book. Not a single thing which occurs in my life, and in yours, will ever take our God by surprise.
He is sovereign over our lives so we are sure to get where we are supposed to go. With Him in control and our hearts following Him, we are sure to get to where we are going.
May He renew,
and consume,
as I surrender to Him.
Come, sit a spell. Bring your coffee, your posts, and your thoughts. If you link up, kindly visit those who have drawn up a seat around you.
A beautiful post Joanne, I have always loved that God knows the beginning to the end of my days on planet Earth & that He’s already been there.
A very blessed New Year to you & it will be exciting to see what God reveals to you through your WOTY ‘surrender’.
blessings, Jennifer
Happy New Year, Joanne! Surrender was my word the first time I had a word for the year and it was one that had a big impact. I look forward to reading more about your journey this year.
It’s such a reassurance to know God plans our days. It should be easy to surrender to Him–but we have to contend with our flesh and wills. May He give us grace to do so!
Surrender/yield is a great WOTY, Joanne!
I’m sure that I will learn a lot from you this year as you plum the depths of your word. I find that it has been the little things that have tripped me up in my resolve to surrender everything.
Those verses are a great comfort. We can trust Him.
I love the fresh start of a new year, too. But you are right, I need to surrender all my plans to His will.
He is way smarter than me, anyway!