Made to Flourish

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green, Psalm 92:12-14 (ESV)

All over the internet, I have been seeing people choosing a word of the year. One word that encapsulates what you want to focus on or achieve during the coming year. From this word, you look at the areas of your life and derive goals to help promote productivity and change. I’ve never chosen a word of the year before. Actually, I never realized this was even a thing. 🙂

But this year, I thought I would give it a try. I thought about words that I would want as a focal point for 2018. The first one that came to mind was “health.” Healthy body, spirit, mind, work life, etc…

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don’t just want basic health in all areas of my life, I want thriving, abundant health.

I want to flourish.

To flourish is to grow in a healthy, abundant, and thriving way.

Then I found this passage of scripture:

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green, Psalm 92:12-14 (ESV)

When we are planted in the right place, we can flourish. We are designed to be planted in the presence of the Lord. No matter where we live, work, or the circumstances we are in, we can flourish when we plant our spirits in God’s presence.

We are made to flourish in every season.

There are times in my life where I am tempted to be resentful or bitter. When I get focused on what is not done on my to-do list, I can get super cranky. When the laundry piles up. When the household mess feels overwhelming. When people at work, or church, or in my family do things that frustrate me, I can choose to fixate on that one bad thing instead of all the amazing blessings in my life. When I dig in and plant my mind in that frustration and resentment, I shrivel up inside.

But I don’t have to. I can bear fruit even as I get older. Even as I deal with frustrations and problems. I can be full of life in the middle of the winter in my life.

Like an evergreen, I can stay fresh and green in every season of my life.

I can flourish. And you can too.

Action Step: Planting ourselves in God’s presence starts with spending time with Him. What better time than the start of a new year to establish a habit of spending time in God’s presence, of reading His word and talking with Him. I am using this month to re-establish my routine of starting my day in devotion to God. Every morning, I am choosing to wake up and spend the first few minutes of each day digging my roots into God’s presence. Want to join me?

Dear God, thank You for creating us to flourish in Your presence. We can grow where we are planted when we intentionally choose where to dig in our roots. Help us to build the habit of Your presence into our lives everyday. In Jesus’ name, amen.