"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."
-Jer. 29:11
-Jer. 29:11
I know that this verse is, in context, Jeremiah speaking to the survivors of the group exiled from Jerusalem by King "Neb." He talks of how God will bring them back to Jerusalem after a time in Babylon. He tells the people of their mistakes and comforts them with God's saving grace by explaining that it's all in his plans. However so many people take it out of context and apply it to their lives, without knowing the true meaning of the verse. I don't believe it's wrong to do this, as long as we know where it came from. God said it, knowing and meaning for it to reach us when we need it most. But I still hesitate every time this verse comes to mind. As it crept into my thoughts today, I found myself doing this very thing.
The reality of leaving this December is slowly catching up with me. The "to do" lists are piling high, and along with that is the competing short time I have here at home with the people I love. I have been juggling writing letters and essays, doing paperwork, and packing up my so short 21 years here in America along with the desire to live all the adventures out I can with the people I enjoy most before I leave. The lack of time vs the load of preparation is beginning to eat away at my human desire to be completely in control at all times. So today, when talking to my father, a man that I cherish more then he realizes, I broke down. He then proceeded to tell me things that I knew all too well, however needed very much to hear them. They all lead me back to thinking of Jer. 29:11. Thank you, Dad.
But as I began to think more deeply about the meaning and the context of this verse, I began to smile at the irony of God. Jeremiah talks of the people being banished from the place God had originally called them. God then took them to a place where He could teach them the specific lessons they needed to learn and challenged them in order to further their spiritual growth. Then Jeremiah tells them of God's great plans for their future and how it's more amazing then they could have ever imagined. "God sees the big picture" as my father told me today. He's right... and even we can't understand how true that is.
So there I sat. Completely in awe of God, wanting to laugh at Him for not showing me sooner, that this is very similar to the road I have been down. Though I was not "banished," I believe I have taken a detour from the road I was to be on simply to teach me a lesson. I have grown so much in the last year... two years... or even three to realize all that has changed, but I do know that if it wasn't for this "banishment," I would not be about to leap into the future that is before me.
However, that thinking brought me back to the present. Instead of thinking of all that God has done in my life in the past, I was forced to focus on the future... and the preparations that lay in the present. Once again, I began to feel overloaded. Although now I knew that this was all in God's greater plan for me and He had more control over it then I could even comprehend, I still felt stressed. How do I balance all that needs to get done and all that there is to do in the limited time ahead?
I quickly wanted to forget these thoughts and chose to put all this aside temporarily. So I began to distract myself with opening my email. Here I found an email that hadn't been read all day. I didn't recognize the name but I opened it anyway. I suddenly was frozen with anticipation. It was the youth director from Keynsham, who other then our one interview, I have not had much contact with. He was offering to answer some of my questions, knowing that this can be a confusing, crazy time. I knew exactly what he was talking about... But then I got to the end of the email and he said something that threw my whole day for a loop. He was talking about how excited the leaders were to have me join their team and then...
"I can also assure you that the young people are also incredibly excited - I hope this encourages you."
Suddenly, I had no more nerves, no more questioning, no more thoughts of irony or stress. Instead I wanted nothing more then for the days to fly into fast forward. At that moment, I knew exactly where I needed to be. It was like gravity pulling me forward, knowing I had no more strength to keep going myself. My thoughts from the day ran through my head. There's too much to do. I'll never get done. God is in control, just keep telling yourself that. God knows the bigger picture. He's taken you this far, just imagine what's ahead. But look at the reality. Why am I even going? Are you really ready for this? And in one second, they were gone. This one sentince told me exactly why I was going... and yes, I am ready. The answers were all there: God's plan from Jeremiah 29, my own father's words, and finally, Dan's encouraging email. It was the call I felt in my life to teenagers. I would follow that call anywhere. God has set me apart so that I may go in His name. I dedicated my life to serving Him, so this is where he has called me. I said "Take me Lord." And now here I go...
The reality of leaving this December is slowly catching up with me. The "to do" lists are piling high, and along with that is the competing short time I have here at home with the people I love. I have been juggling writing letters and essays, doing paperwork, and packing up my so short 21 years here in America along with the desire to live all the adventures out I can with the people I enjoy most before I leave. The lack of time vs the load of preparation is beginning to eat away at my human desire to be completely in control at all times. So today, when talking to my father, a man that I cherish more then he realizes, I broke down. He then proceeded to tell me things that I knew all too well, however needed very much to hear them. They all lead me back to thinking of Jer. 29:11. Thank you, Dad.
But as I began to think more deeply about the meaning and the context of this verse, I began to smile at the irony of God. Jeremiah talks of the people being banished from the place God had originally called them. God then took them to a place where He could teach them the specific lessons they needed to learn and challenged them in order to further their spiritual growth. Then Jeremiah tells them of God's great plans for their future and how it's more amazing then they could have ever imagined. "God sees the big picture" as my father told me today. He's right... and even we can't understand how true that is.
So there I sat. Completely in awe of God, wanting to laugh at Him for not showing me sooner, that this is very similar to the road I have been down. Though I was not "banished," I believe I have taken a detour from the road I was to be on simply to teach me a lesson. I have grown so much in the last year... two years... or even three to realize all that has changed, but I do know that if it wasn't for this "banishment," I would not be about to leap into the future that is before me.
However, that thinking brought me back to the present. Instead of thinking of all that God has done in my life in the past, I was forced to focus on the future... and the preparations that lay in the present. Once again, I began to feel overloaded. Although now I knew that this was all in God's greater plan for me and He had more control over it then I could even comprehend, I still felt stressed. How do I balance all that needs to get done and all that there is to do in the limited time ahead?
I quickly wanted to forget these thoughts and chose to put all this aside temporarily. So I began to distract myself with opening my email. Here I found an email that hadn't been read all day. I didn't recognize the name but I opened it anyway. I suddenly was frozen with anticipation. It was the youth director from Keynsham, who other then our one interview, I have not had much contact with. He was offering to answer some of my questions, knowing that this can be a confusing, crazy time. I knew exactly what he was talking about... But then I got to the end of the email and he said something that threw my whole day for a loop. He was talking about how excited the leaders were to have me join their team and then...
"I can also assure you that the young people are also incredibly excited - I hope this encourages you."
Suddenly, I had no more nerves, no more questioning, no more thoughts of irony or stress. Instead I wanted nothing more then for the days to fly into fast forward. At that moment, I knew exactly where I needed to be. It was like gravity pulling me forward, knowing I had no more strength to keep going myself. My thoughts from the day ran through my head. There's too much to do. I'll never get done. God is in control, just keep telling yourself that. God knows the bigger picture. He's taken you this far, just imagine what's ahead. But look at the reality. Why am I even going? Are you really ready for this? And in one second, they were gone. This one sentince told me exactly why I was going... and yes, I am ready. The answers were all there: God's plan from Jeremiah 29, my own father's words, and finally, Dan's encouraging email. It was the call I felt in my life to teenagers. I would follow that call anywhere. God has set me apart so that I may go in His name. I dedicated my life to serving Him, so this is where he has called me. I said "Take me Lord." And now here I go...
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"
-Matt 16:24
-Matt 16:24
