Devo Post #1

Jeremiah 29:11
“11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“

There is not that goes by where I do not wonder what my future is going to be. I spend lots of time wondering about it actually. One of my deepest fears is loneliness, so I am always wondering wherever I end up, will there be people that well like me, hang out with me, and be there for me? Today I read a book, and a quote from it says, “When we are children we seldom think of the future/ This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can/ The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” Sometimes I still want to feel like a child. Like I always say, “have the mind of an adult, but the heart of a child.” Yet sometimes I wish for a mind of a child too, and a lot of times my heart grows to be that of an adult: calculating, cold, and distrustful. That kind of heart is the leading cause to the distrust of the Lord. Like yesterday’s devotion, it is very hard for the average person to trust that there is someone out there that is willing to die freely and give us a gift so precious such as salvation and free love. As adults, we learn such a thing cannot exist, but we secretly long for it to exist. That is the biggest pushing point to Christianity: the promise of such a love pushes people towards Jesus, yet also pushes people away since they cannot believe in the impossible.

How hard is it to believe that someone out there holds the plans to “prosper” you, will not “harm” you, will give you “hope”, and a “future”? Even for me, as a Christian, it is very hard. Why? Because as hard as I try not to, I still develop expectations from God. Expectations that God will lead me down a path so seemingly perfectly arranged by His Truly, from my perspective. I set up expectations that God will answer all my prayers the way I want them to be answered. But I guess God is a funny God, and definitely an all-knowing one. Still, as a puny and wishful person, I still long for my hopes and dreams to come true, especially when they seem pretty aligned with the kinds of dreams God would want his children to have. I don’t know, but I guess all I can do is believe, hope, and see.

When there is still a glimmer of hope, reach for it!

"Up to a certain point it is good for us to know that there are people in the world who will give us love and unquestioned loyalty to the limit of their ability. I doubt, however, if it is good for us to feel assured of this without the accompanying obligation of having to justify this devotion by our behavior" - Eleanor Roosevelt

A friend once told me that once he felt lonely and wondered why no one ever called him or asked him to hang out. It turns out, those people were expecting the same thing from him. If no one ever reaches out to anyone or takes the initiative, who will know they are loved? Needless to say, it always takes two to build a relationship.


"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one" - Jesus


I am glad He took the initiative with me, and also with the church.