Peace & Trust & the Heart of God

I believe the theme for the New Year 2023 is Peace and Trust.

“So now you better stop

And rebuild all your ruins

For peace and trust can win the day

Despite all of your losing”

Lyrics –Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

Recently, the Holy Spirit brought these lyrics to mind, when I was thinking about what surprises the coming year might bring to the world. God often uses things that are familiar to us, even from the secular world, to “reveal” a message or to answer a question we’ve asked in prayer. Around this same time, I also heard a preacher speaking about peace in the New Year. This confirmed for me that the way to deal with whatever happens in 2023 is through trusting in the Lord and being guided by His peace that settles matters in our hearts.

2022 was an odd sort of year for me. I started a project that God revealed to me in a dream and also through several prophetic messages from a friend. I wasn’t sure how to begin, so I prayed about it and the Holy Spirit reminded me I had the ability to create something new from what I already possessed. At several points during this process, I got stuck and struggled with how to proceed. I became frustrated and doubted I had enough creativity or the proper resources to make this a successful project. But I knew that if the Lord said it could be done, then I could trust it would be done, but He would have to help me get to that point. So, I kept praying, and the Holy Spirit kept providing the answers I needed along the way. I worked hard and pretty efficiently or so I thought, but it still it took a full year to finish.

Now I had a great product, and all I had left to do was some marketing.

Friends and other people were encouraging and saw this product had the potential to make a difference and give people hope for a better future. I had already invested blood, sweat, tears, time and money into this project, and then I invested even more money to advertise and get the word out. I was sure it would be a success in a matter of weeks… or maybe a month. But… hmmm, nothing happened. So I tried every which way to promote it by advertising in print newspapers, digital news, social media, grassroots efforts, lowering the price, mailing it to organizations and even gave it away free! The handful of reviews I received were fantastic, but no matter how I tried to promote this product, I fell short.

I was feeling defeated and confused. If God told me to create this product, then why was it just sitting there? How will it get into the hands of the ones who need it? I did everything I could do, and I had no more to give or invest. Did I do something wrong?

When I finally got around to asking God all these questions, He let me think a little while and then He asked me why I was rushing. I immediately remembered this is something He had spoken to me about in the past. I did the same thing with my previous project. AND I guess I hadn’t learned the lesson of trusting Him and waiting on His timing, and why I did not have peace of mind. If I have done everything I know to do, then I have to trust that God will do the rest.

I know the project will succeed, but I also know that God will make it known in His timing. God’s heart is for us, not against us, and He loves us and will not let us fail. Only He can see the road ahead and knows exactly where and when to “promote” us and then we’ll see the fruits of our labor. I will not try anymore to rush His plan for me. I’m a child of God and have faith to believe. I am very blessed.

2023 will be a year of trusting my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and letting Him bring peace to my heart.

I hope you will join us.

Heart of God - Zach Williams (Song on youtube)

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David, the fallen hut or booth, and close up its breaches; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.

Amos 9:11 AMPC

Photo by Oxana Melis on Unsplash