“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” – Psalm 84:5
Mama, how are you feeling as you step into a new year? For some, the fresh calendar page feels like a breath of fresh air, full of potential and possibility. Others may feel like they are limping out of the previous year. One little perspective shift can help you find joy wherever you are today. Psalm 84 is one of my go-to passages to help me regain perspective and reset my heart. The psalmist tells us, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” (Psalm 84:5)
“Blessed” in that verse translates to “favored and happy”. Another way to read the verse is, “You are favored and happy when your strength is in God and when your heart is on the journey to Him.” Doesn’t that sound refreshing? It’s not your circumstances or the world’s measuring stick that determine your level of blessings or happiness. It’s not even your emotions or attitude. It’s acknowledging that your life is a pilgrimage (or a journey) with Jesus. The psalmist goes on in Psalm 84:7 to explain that those who set their hearts on heaven “go from strength to strength”.
We know that this world will have trouble (John 16:33), and God will work all things, even the hard things, out for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). So you and I can find relief, joy, and true blessings when we take our eyes off the things of this world and set them on the higher things (Colossians 3:1). Your Heavenly Father doesn’t have a set of expectations for you to complete every 365 days. He desires to walk with you every day of your life and welcome you into eternity with wide-open arms.
Mama, as you look into a new year, don’t grade yourself on where you’re coming from or set your worth on measurables that lay before you. Set your heart on a lifelong journey with Jesus. That simply means to wake up every day and give that day’s plans, steps, and purposes to God. There will be hard days, disappointments, and mistakes made, but when your eyes are set on Christ, you will only see His kindness and grace in response.
With love,
Kacy and the Help Club for Moms Team
Five years into single parenting in the African bush, a Tennessee man also entered the mission field. We met and decided to stay in South Africa and get married.
We are now living in Cape Town, South Africa building up the local church with our teenager and toddler boys.
Help Club for Moms became a lifeline to me when I was lonely on the mission field with a new baby in a foreign country. I am so thankful to write for this community and to document God’s work in my own family at http://www.ladd.family
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