Jeremiah 29.11-13

"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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
-The New International Version

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 12"When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. 13-14"When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree. "I'll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"—God's Decree—"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it. "
- The Message


Good MOOORRNNINNGG!!!

I love this passage. This is great. (ALL of it is haha.) This is a promise from God. To us. To me. I had to take it from the International Version AND the Message because I absolutely love how the Message translates it.

This really speaks to me about the situations that you go through that aren't all that comfortable. "Trials" as some call it. But I hate that word. It's become callused to me. Trials trials trials. What a common word. When you go through so much of it, you tend to hate it. But I love this passage because it's God's promise on situations you go through that he IS going to bring you through them. He IS going to give me the future I've been hoping for. THAT is good news... because I have big hopes for my future. BIG hopes for where I'll be in life sometime down the road (even today or tomorrow I'm further along than I was yesterday or last week.) God is good. That's a lot of trust into something you can't physically see, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I've heard this quote a lot in the past weekend and it's really been standing out to me. "If I were perfect and if everything in my life was perfect, I wouldn't have a need for God." That's boring. That's not fun. That's not building a relationship.

Jesus,
I thank you for the "trials" I have to go through. I see them as blessings because it's proof that you love me (more than) enough to entrust me with them so that I may come out victorious and with more character than when I went into them. May I be faithful in the small things you've given me so that you may give me more. I thank you that my future has already been written by your precious hand and it's a matter of me taking my journey in YOU to get there. You are so precious to me. Holy Spirit, I ask that you remain with me today as I have things to get done. I ask that you bless my hands as they work for your kingdom. May I not be worn down with tired eyes and lifeless limbs. I ask for your divine inspiration and creativity, and I thank you that I've been able to keep busy lately doing the things that I love. May I not be taken over with frustrations or get worn out. I love doing the things that I love! I thank you for your blessings in my life! I love you soooo much!

amen.