Most years around Christmas time I’ll ask God if he has a word or a theme for me for the next year.

This year I got the word Abide. That’s awesome. I love abiding. My personal favorite. But then I asked what that would look like, and he said Plod. Plod!? Not my favorite. Not awesome. Not a word I would associate with by choice.

I looked it up to see if it meant something different than I thought, something more inspiring. Nope:

verb
walk doggedly and slowly with heavy steps. “we plodded back up the hill”
Similar: trudge, lumber, slog
noun
a slow, heavy walk. “he settled down to a steady plod”

So I asked the Holy Spirit for an explanation. He said “I’m helping you see your big picture progress. Don’t get discouraged if this year doesn’t look like much. And don’t get too hyped if it looks amazing. I have much bigger plans than one year.”

OK that made sense. Like listening to an interview with any confident athlete. After a win, there’s moderated celebration before shifting the conversation to focus on winning the championship. After a loss, there’s an acknowledgement of disappointment, then an explanation of how adversity is necessary to build championship character.

If we don’t really believe God’s promises, then we get really excited about a win and really discouraged about a loss. If we do believe, then the ups and downs along the way aren’t such a big deal. This is how Jesus and Paul saw things….

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” — Luke 10:17-20

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. — 2 Cor 4:16-18

Now I’m finding plodding strangely comforting. It keeps my eyes fixed on Jesus. A slow walk toward him, through all kinds of circumstances: “he settled down to a steady plod”.