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!
