Year of Intention

in-ten-tion [in-ten-shuh n]

-noun

1. an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result

2. the end or object intended; purpose.

I had always ignored the whole "New Year's resolutions" bandwagon. I felt like resolutions were almost a joke because people tend to give them up by the time February rolls around anyway. I'm going to lose weight this year! I'm going to go to the gym three times a week! I'm going to organize my house! I'm going to take up water aerobics! I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that!

Sure. Blah, blah, blah.

But there is something to making resolutions. We all see need for improvement in ourselves, see things we need to change in our lives, or are haunted by the dreams and goals we once had but never attained. A new year is like a new day: it offers the idea of a clean slate and the opportunity for a new perspective. Why not embrace it?

But people are flakey. They fail at their resolutions every year--sometimes within a few weeks, sometimes within a few days. Perhaps some people succeed, but you hear more about people who fail. Then when the next year rolls around they bring up the same resolutions and try again. And the year after that...and the year after that.

But why? Why do people start out so excited and lose steam so quickly?

Lack of focus.

How does one keep focus? By limiting focus to what really matters. One of the pastors at my church recently spoke on this topic with regards to King David. David had a stressful life, in my opinion! King Saul tried to kill him, his own son tried to usurp him, he fought a bajillion battles and faced numerous intimidating enemies. How did he survive? Not just physically, but spiritually and mentally? God Himself called David a man after God's heart. How did he remain a man of worship, a warrior of worship? What was the secret of his success?

David had focus, which he learned through discipline. His Psalm 27 contains one of the most powerful life statements ever recorded. David declares: "One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple."

That was his secret: singularity of focus and intent. To be in the presence of God was the purpose of his existence. Read the rest of the psalm. David's enemies couldn't defeat him; he sought the Lord for wisdom. He was not bound by fear of man; he experienced God. His own doubts couldn't hold him down; he chose to trust.

David wasn't some "superman-of-faith" but just an ordinary guy who knew how small he was and how big God is. He struggled, just like we do. He had doubts, fears, worries, anger issues, spiritual "dry" seasons, confusion--the whole bit. But he CHOSE, he PURPOSED, he INTENDED. It took discipline for David to abide in God, a discipline acquired over a lifetime.

I am humbled by David. I need to do as he did; I need to INTEND to abide in Christ, to PURPOSE to spend time listening to His voice, to CHOOSE to trust when things feel bleak. Only then does any clarity come...in His time, of course.

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"Who have I in Heaven but You, Jesus?

And what better could I hope to find down here on earth?

I could cross the most distant reaches

Of the world, but I'd just be wasting my time

'Cause I'm certain already, I'm sure I'd find

You're my One Thing...

And the pure in heart shall see God."

-Rich Mullins