Thus says the Lord:
Jeremiah 31:2,3 ESV
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
God has a plan. Not only is He sovereign and holy and omniscient and loving, but he acts with intentionality. He knows where we have come from and what we have yet to go through and has planned for the times we need to be stretched and the times we need grace.
For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
Jeremiah 31:25 ESV
God knows exactly what we need. What is best. He has already marked that path that will shape us as needed and heal us as needed. What a hope we possess!
Recently I read a book by Niall Williams called This is Happiness and a quote stood out to me as incredibly revealing about the peace that Christianity brings. He presses the point that each life is a story worth telling and any story worth telling must have ups and downs. Therefore, “Story was the stuff of life, and to realise you were inside one allowed you to sometimes surrender to the plot, to bear a little easier the griefs and sufferings and to enjoy more fully the twists that came along the way.”
While our life is not just determined by a “storyline,” the point carries over. If God is at the helm and knows that in this sinful world there will come tragedy and joy, and He guides with the clearest perspective and control, we can weather storms with a little more perseverance, manage grief with surrender, and sometimes enjoy the small twists, knowing that He planned our lives for optimum impact.
. . . for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Mark 16:8b ESV
We will have those seasons of struggle, and then there are those pivotal moments when we look up and remember that God has a plan and that miracles and beauty are included in it along with the pain and darkness. We might even be struck speechless by the evidence of His moving in our lives and world.
Lord God, help me to remember that You hold all of it. Help me remember to hope in times of struggle and to keep acting with intentionality in times of joy. Thank you for planning and purposing each life for Your glory and the matchless peace I can rest in because of that truth. In Jesus name, Amen.
Sixty-six books in a year 