Stuck on repeat, my God’s been singing Isaiah 61 over the year I’ve stepped into. He swears by it: this is the year to see, to savor, to proclaim My favor. I’m taking notes. I’m paying attention! And oh, how He has already come through. He makes and keeps His every promise–I just get to write them all out and rave about Him. He’s the King who can and will save–He says so! He pledges this: He’s anointed me, set me apart. His Spirit is thick and alive deep down in me. So I’ll tell the good news to those who aren’t hearing it, I’ll patch up and piece together the broken-hearted. I”ll swing wide the cage door and set free the captives. I’ll proclaim freedom! They won’t dare forget it! I’ll break chains and leave them to rust undone. I’ll release and restore and fix and set free. This is the year of My favor–just you wait!

And all the little ones I’m chasing after? He’s got big things around their next corner. He says: I’ll comfort the crying, I’ll be just what she needs. I’ll come to my Zion that’s tired and lonely and hurt and stuck hiding. I’ll pick her up! I’ll crown her in beauty to wholly cover rags and ashes. I’ll lavish My joy and praise and all the good things instead of tears and despair and defeat. I’ll plant her just right. I’ll root her down deep. I’ll grow her up, and hold her hand, and watch her rise again. Someday, she’ll display My splendor. That’s what they’ll see! She’ll stretch and sway and look like Me. She’ll pick up pieces of her world and restore the places that only know devastation. She will rebuild, she will remake her ruined city. 

He tells me to let her! To watch and learn, to pay attention and take notes. To cheer loud from my front-row seat. To stand close enough by to see the day He swears is coming. To play my little tiny part, to proclaim it loud and clear and confident: this is the year! He says this about me, and you: You will be called Mine. You will tell My story and bear My name. You will be fueled and fed by the harvest. You will see abundance and plenty. You will not carry shame or face disgrace, you will not lack or long. You will receive much and rejoice much! You’ll taste My joy–the kind that doesn’t run dry, that sloshes out and can’t stay contained. You’ll take notes, You’ll pay attention. You’ll see it, You’ll call it the same kind of year I swore by. And I’ll say “I told you so.”

I will see the Kingdom touch down in the world of Austin West. I will see it and I will add a hundred more lines to the “ways God comes through” list and I will shout from my platform: this is the year of the Lord’s favor! So today, I’ll sit in His promises and read them right. The harvest is ready to be run to. I’m calling it!

Thanks for 60-something people rallied around me, willing and waiting to see You flex. Thanks that my call is simple and though You don’t need us, you think we’re way more fun to include. Don’t let me claim credit or steal Glory or forget it’s You that’s big and able. Thanks for a new crown and kept promises. I love You lots!