As 2026 began, I found myself sitting beside a decent-sized creek. The water moved steadily past me, creating sounds that, to my ears, spoke of life, forgiveness, and freedom. I have always loved moving water. There is something about it that reminds me of God’s grace, the kind of grace that carries sin away and brings life and hope to a weary soul.
In a quiet moment, God was preparing my heart for a new year. I sensed Him speaking to me about a word of focus for my soul. The word was intentional. As I continued to sit with it, He added a second word to clarify and strengthen the focus: sowing.
Together, these words have shaped my focus for 2026: Intentional Sowing.
He then added two ancillary words that feel inseparable from this focus: diligence and resilience. If I am honest, both remain areas of deep struggle for me. My battle with anxiety often pushes me to give up, shut down, or escape, rather than intentionally moving forward with diligence and resilience.
To be intentional is to act with purpose, to make deliberate and conscious decisions rather than drifting on autopilot or shutting down in an effort to avoid pain.
To sow is to actively scatter or plant seeds. In the spiritual sense, sowing refers to our actions, words, thoughts, and choices that produce spiritual and physical results.
Simply put, what we do today matters deeply for who we become tomorrow.
Often, I start the new year with strong intentions, but maintaining them beyond mid-February proves more difficult. This is where these ancillary words become so vital.
As I sought God’s help in understanding why I start strong yet finish poorly, I came across definitions of diligence and resilience that resonated with me:
Diligence is the process of consistent effort. Resilience is recovery from disruptions to that process.
Wow! I recognized my own patterns in these definitions. I tend to start well, but when the process is disrupted, it becomes difficult to keep moving forward. My prayer for this year is not only to sow intentionally, but also to live out diligence and resilience in practical ways.
Whatever I do this year, I want to be intentional while remembering a foundational truth: all power comes from God. My role is not to manufacture outcomes or manipulate results. My role is to plant faithfully, be present, and align myself with what God is already doing.
And when I fail – because I will – or when things get difficult – because they will – I must resist the temptation to quit for the moment, the day, the week, the month, or even longer. That is where resilience comes in.
Resilience allows me to keep sowing even when diligence does not produce the results I hoped for. It is the ability to recover when the process is disrupted, when life hits hard, or when old patterns resurface. In recovery, we understand this well. Setbacks do not have to define us or derail our progress.
I can choose to sow trust when my flesh begs for relief.
I can choose to sow faithfulness when my instincts urge me to escape.
Sitting beside that North Georgia creek, I asked God to help me understand practical ways in which I could be intentional. He revealed that, as believers in long-term recovery, we intentionally sow to the Spirit in the following ways:
This intentional sowing does not guarantee anything, but it does give us something to do in cooperation and trust with God. He is then able to take our humble seeds and bring forth real fruit and freedom.
Scripture is clear about this, and life confirms it daily. When I expect or demand a harvest from something I have not planted, nurtured, or carefully cultivated, I am operating out of entitlement rather than wisdom.
In addiction, we often want relief without repentance, freedom without formation, and healing without honesty. God’s design is greater. He invites us into partnership, supplying the power and grace as we faithfully sow.
As we step into 2026, my prayer for our staff, clients, alumni, families, and supporters is a shared commitment toward intentional sowing.
Not perfectly, but faithfully.
Not anxiously, but confidently.
God is always faithful to bring growth in His time. It is our responsibility to keep planting, keep showing up, and keep cooperating – intentionally, diligently, and resiliently – one seed at a time.
– James 3:18 (NIV)
