Each year, I like to start the new year off by asking God to reveal to me from the Bible a special word of truth, or “rhema” as it is called in Greek, for the following twelve months.

Through the years, God has been so faithful to give me a first glimpse at some of the lessons He plans to teach me in the months and days ahead. Over the years, God has given me some very precious passages including Revelation 2:1-7 and Hebrews 12:1.

This year, though, I was beginning to wonder if God was going to continue this pattern. By the second week of the year, I was still waiting. But on Friday, God once again delivered a gem and one that I’m looking forward to having instilled in my heart!

The truth for this year that I believe God wants to plant deep inside my heart is Psalm 116:7—-and this truth couldn’t be more timely.

“Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.”

Have you ever felt like your soul has lost sight of God? You feel as if you’re communing with God intimately and are filled to the overflowing by the nearness of His presence, but all of a sudden, an attack from Satan strikes and rocks your mind, will, or emotions.

For me, I can tell often tell when my world is being rocked because I can actually feel it physically. The connection between my heart and my mind is so sensitive that the moment I hear or see something that triggers a deep-rooted insecurity, I sometimes feel a quick pain as my breath catches or my heart skips a beat. Despite the inconvenience, I’m very grateful for this physical reminder as it is a tangible sign to me that my soul has lost sight of God and placed its attention on the cares of the world.

On Friday morning, it was during one of these moments that God revealed this year’s rhema. I was going along my merry way, when all of a sudden, something triggered an insecurity. Like many times, it was on the surface a very trivial and inconsequential matter that upset me, but I’ve long since realized that logic and rationalization are totally useless against insecurities. The tiniest thing can set you off and leave you in a pool of tears or a fit of worry.

Anyway, as I was trying to pray through this latest episode, I begged God to change my heart and mind, and give me His peace once again. All of a sudden, He flashed the words of Psalm 116:7 through my mind. Immediately, I began to pray these words back to Him and praise Him for speaking healing truth to my soul.

As I pondered the words, I was struck by the second part of the verse—”…for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” God merely hasn’t just dealt with me and provided for my needs. Instead He has blessed me abundantly—above and beyond what I could dream of—-so that I can rest securely in Him.

What a precious reminder and one I’m looking forward to learning more about in 2012.