Toggles Connection Newsletter
Trophies of His Grace

Getting Our Life Together
—by Alaine
(From the Toggles Connection Newsletter)

Don’t you wish we could all go to a seminar called “How To Get Your Life Together In 20 Minutes”? As we start the New Year, I’m sure we all have ideas and hopes about what this year will hold.

I’d like to suggest that all of us, no matter at what stage we are at in our healing, need to think about one thing: What will our focus be for [this year]?

The old saying is definitely true: “Aim at nothing, and you are sure to hit it.”

Many of us are in the process of “removing the rubble” of our past, as Nehemiah did before he began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. There are so many things we wish would happen in this coming a year:

We wish we would finally be healed inside;

we wish the confusion, the voices would end;

we wish we could be “normal,” even just for a day;

we wish we could get on with our lives;

we wish…

“If only…”

One of the things we need to be careful of is not to fall into idolatry. By that, I mean we have to be careful that we don’t make an idol out of being healed emotionally. It’s easy to focus on getting past our past so much so that we long for it more than anything else in our life.

Our life is kind of “on hold” until then. “When I’m better I can…” It’s really not too different from the single person who dreams that “When I find a man then everything will be OK.” We know that we may have turned something or someone in our life into an idol when we fill in the sentence “More than anything I want_______,” with that someone or something. 

So, what should be our goal, our focus, for this upcoming year? Paul said it very clearly in Philippians 3:10 –“that I may know Him...”

No matter what we have been through, no matter where we are headed, the one primary focus in our lives as Christians should be to get to know God. 

There is a loneliness that being a “work in progress” brings. One of the best ways to minimize that is to get so close to the Lord (in a worshipful, reverential way,) that He becomes our closest friend.

Is that really possible? Can we really get to know the Lord so well that we get past our fear of Him or our anger towards Him, or whatever else separates us now? Does He want us to get to know Him?


YES! YES! YES!!!

But, how do we go about it? Where do we start? How, practically, can we make our focus for this New Year one of getting to know Him? 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can’t get to know a person very well if you don’t spend time with them. The same obvious principle is true when it comes to our relationship with God.

If you haven’t developed a habit of talking to Him (prayer), and having Him talk to you (scripture), start with ten minutes a day. When you leave your time with Him, don’t ask “How much did I do?” Ask, “Did I ‘touch the hem of His garment’?” “Did He speak to me in some way?” In other words, did you really communicate with the Creator of the universe, or did you just do some sort of religious duty?

There is a saying: “Bible reading is sometimes like rain, sometimes like snow.” Sometimes the rain brings immediate results, providing life-giving water. Sometimes snow falls, piling up to be melted later as a life-sustaining supply of water. Sometimes what we read is for an immediate need; sometimes it is like stockpiling supplies for a later emergency.

For most of us, establishing a pattern or plan helps. 

Before you begin, prepare your heart:


Then bow before Him. Begin by worshipping Him:


Make a commitment. Tell God that your focus for [this year] is to know Him better. Then practice, resist discouragement and refocus as often as you need to. Make [this year] a year of developing a deepening relationship with Him.I