Out Of The Fire - Refined for 2025

2024 flew by so fast it left me with whiplash, and it has undoubtedly been a year full of learnings. If you know me you know that at the end of each year, I prayerfully ask God for a guiding word for the upcoming year. At the close of 2023, I did just that. The first word I received was “pain.” I kept pushing it away, refusing to accept it, but the Holy Spirit kept affirming it. During this time, I was also led to Habakkuk 3, and as I read it, verses 17 to 19 stood out to me, ending with the punchline "He will make my feet as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”

I thought it was such a beautiful poem, and I couldn’t believe I had never seen it before. Yet, the words spoke to a barren place—a place that echoed the very word I was resisting.

As I continued to seek God in prayer, other words came: trust, bear fruit, and finally, rebuild. It became clear that God was saying, “There will be pain in 2024, but through it all, trust me. Don’t stop bearing fruit—bear fruit all the more—and it will lead to a rebuilding. A rebuilding of you, from the ground up, on a firmer foundation in Christ.”

Sure enough, 2024 brought immense pain points. I wasn’t barren in terms of resources, but I found myself in circumstances that brought me to my knees. There were broken promises, lost dreams, and a painful end to a significant relationship. I also struggled with health and motherhood in ways I never had before. My life was not completely looking the way I wanted or hoped for, but through it all, I have clung to Habakkuk 3 over and over again. "Make my feet steady, Lord! Help me climb these heights, Lord!" This has been my battle cry.

As I’ve written so many times before, painful experiences are often where God does some of His best work. This year, He gave me glimpses of His majesty and grandeur. I saw Him in ways I hadn’t before. I came to understand that in my pain, He also sorrows. He weeps with me and shares in my disappointment. In 2024, I’ve grown to trust God more deeply—with my outcomes, with His timing, with everything.

On the upsdies, God used me in His kingdom this year, and I am humbly grateful for the opportunities He gave me to bear fruit. He also, opened new doors, fulfilled new dreams, and surrounded me with an army of friends and family who love and support me.

It’s hard to sum it all up in human words. When I reflect on it, a heavenly language pours out. But let me try: everything—every detail of our lives—points us to God. The pain and the joy, the highs and the lows, all work together to draw us closer to Him, to reveal who He is, and to show us who we are in Him. This journey is filled with challenges, but we count it all joy because God uses it all.

This year has cemented for me what it means to have Christ at the center of everything. The eye of the storm—that’s where He is. That’s the safe space. This journey isn’t about chasing happy moments or fulfilling the desires of our hearts; it’s about who we are becoming through it all. It’s about living this beautiful, wonderful life with my Savior, Jesus Christ.

There is life beyond this world, but it begins here, and I want to make the most of it. As I look ahead to 2025, the Holy Spirit is saying, “prayer.” With Ephesians 3: 14 – 21 as my guiding scripture “Yes, I want to know how wide, how high, how long, and how deep God’s love is for me.” I’m stepping into some new places. Let’s see where He leads!