Thrive in 2022

by | Jan 5, 2022 | Blog, Devotional, Family, Health, Inspiration, overcomers, Purpose, Uncategorized

From as far back as I can remember, God has given me a word to ponder throughout the year. But it wasn’t until 2013 that I started keeping track of those words. Each year the word He has given me has defined that year in some way.

MY LEGACY—Great-Grandma holding me, Mom and Grandma standing behind. Circa 1953.

Some years He drops the word into my heart and I know right away that that’s the word for the year. But for 2022, it wasn’t that easy. I shied away from the word when He first highlighted it to me.

It didn’t seem like a biblical word to me and I wasn’t sure exactly how to apply it to what 2022 might bring.  But see, I don’t need to know. I just need to grab hold of the word He gives me and hold it close.

Hear God’s Voice

What sealed it for me was when I came across a prophecy for 2022 from Joyce D. McGuire that said: “2022 will be what My people make it. The remnant shall hear My voice and thrive,” saith the Lord. That was the confirmation I needed. God pointed it out clearly. Your word for 2022 is Thrive.

When the prophecy says, there is a small number who will hear God’s voice and thrive, it makes me pay attention. I want to be among those few who really believe and live their lives following God.

Let me clear. This is not everyone who says they are a Christian. These are the people who really want to live following in Jesus’ footsteps.

The definition of the word thrive is to grow vigorously or flourish, to gain wealth or prosper, to progress towards a goal despite circumstances and to find energy, joy, health and confidence. Two major descriptive words are flourish and prosper.

Towards Thriving

Like everything in God’s kingdom, there is a process to this. First, we have to exist. We have to be planted and established. This happened when we were born into the families in which God placed us, even if we were adopted or fostered, we still were established in a location.

Then, we had to start growing, which basically means to increase. Some of us had difficulties in our childhoods to overcome, traumas, abuses and other issues. Some of us were planted in good soil from the beginning. Whatever the case, we had to learn to grow into our own identity.

At some point, we began to thrive. It might have been when we were out from under our parents’ wings and had the room to grow. As we thrive, flourish and prosper we begin to become stronger.

We recognize our successes. We are active and influential. We press towards goals that God is showing us. We learn that the real way to prosper is to follow His direction and guidance.

Bound for Destiny

This leads us to the next phase—our destiny. Each of us are growing, thriving, flourishing and prospering because God has a destiny or purpose for us. Thriving means we are consistently moving towards the destiny we God has for us.

Then eventually we will leave a legacy. That word many times means the amount of money we leave behind to our children or other heirs. However, I was well aware when my father passed away that the legacy he left to me could never be counted in dollars and cents.

It was the legacy of the way he lived his life, what he taught me, my brother and sister and our children by walking so closely with God. He had a saying in his office that defined him. “Preach the gospel at all times. If  necessary use words.” He left us a legacy of faith.

That’s what we do when we are thriving, flourishing and prospering. We have to want to know more about God. A.W. Tozier said, “To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.” We don’t find God and stop pursuing Him. We continue to pursue what we already know in order to know Him even more intimately.

Hungry for God

We must always be hungry for more of God. Mark Batterson says, “If you aren’t hungry for God, you are full of yourself.” This isn’t a good thing!

To hear God’s voice we must first want to know what He is saying to us. It is up to us to choose to walk in the Spirit and set the cares of our flesh aside. Only then can we head towards fulfilling our destiny.

Galatians 5:16 TPT tells us how. “As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.” We cannot thrive on our own. We need the Holy Spirit.

Old Things Shall Flourish

Galatians 5:16 TPT tells us how. “As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.” We cannot thrive on our own. We need the Holy Spirit.

New things are like the little trees you might see springing up everywhere, but either get mowed down, trampled or pulled up. The new is not yet established. So it’s not guaranteed to make it.

If you are over 50, what you need to concentrate on is that many old things MUST flourish and grow. Raise your hand if you fit in the older range. My hand is raised.

Living Memorials

When we get older it’s easy to feel like we don’t have a purpose. But, this year and the years to come you will have a purpose if you want to take hold of it and not just sit around as time passes you by.

We have a purpose. “Growing in grace they will still thrive and bear fruit and prosper in old age. They will flourish and be vital and fresh, rich in trust and love and contentment. They are living memorials to declare that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises,” Psalm 92:14-15 AMP.

We are living memorials. We are examples for others. We can only be those things when we are totally yielded to the Holy Spirit and determine to thrive in 2022.

For more on this topic, listen to episode 114: Thrive in 2022 on Sweet Grace for Your Journey podcast: https://teresashieldsparker.com/podcast/.