2022 word for the year

I love setting an intention for the year. It’s something to focus on, a target and motivation. My first thought about this word, satisfied, was a negative connotation. In our go-getter culture, someone who’s satisfied sounds complacent, maybe even lazy. It’s definitely not a good thing.

Then, I read these verses from Psalm 17 (ESV):

¹⁴[Deliver me] from men by your hand, O Lord,
    from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their womb with treasure;
    they are satisfied with children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.

¹⁵As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Admittedly, it’s a strange verse. What really got my attention was the last part. “I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.”

The psalmist, David, is comparing those who are satisfied in this world with being satisfied with God’s presence. I began to think about what it means to be satisfied. Webster defines it as “pleased or content with what has been experienced or received.” (source) I do not want what I experience here on this earth to be my final reward. I’m waiting for something much bigger on the other side of eternity.

I don’t know about you, but I need this right now. In the chaos of daily life, we all need contentment. We crave that feeling. When we don’t really address that need, we try to fill it with shopping, social media, Netflix, relationships, food, alcohol, etc.

I think of being satisfied as having enough. We can be satisfied with food, satisfied with stuff, satisfied with money, power, children, or friends. The Psalmist is saying that those who are satisfied with those things are already getting their “portion.” I don’t want my contentment to come from worldly things. I want it to come from a heart that is right with God and resting in his perfect peace.

My focus this year is to be satisfied with God. When I feel that emptiness in my heart, I don’t want to run to social media, Amazon, or the refrigerator. I want to run to the only one who satisfies.

Philippians 4 says this:

¹¹I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Too often, I’ve tried to fill my heart with things, rather than turning to God. I want this to be the year where I turn to the Lord to be SATISFIED.

Do you have a word for 2022? I’d love to know what it is. Share it in the comments.

I polled my friends on Instagram, and they had some great suggestions. I created graphics to go with them for to share on social media.