Jeremiah 29:11-14 - "'For I know the plans that I have for you' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon ME and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nation sand from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place form where I sent you into exile.'"
Lately, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the will of God and what that means. These verses in Jeremiah are so powerful to me. I feel like I have a new understanding of the peace and joy that come out of following Christ with your whole heart and soul and being in the place that He wants for you. I love teaching, but I know that isn't where I am supposed to be right now. The turmoil I felt prior to leaving my teaching position made it clear to me that God wanted something more from me. For the last few months that I was teaching (after returning to maternity leave) I continued to give my heart to my students, but there was an unsettled feeling and I didn't know exactly where God was leading. (See my "Second Try" post for more about that time.) Little did I know what God had in store.
Through God's call, I interviewed for a job at my church running the nursery. After taking on the position, so many areas of my life fell into place. First, I had been struggling with finding ways to advance the kingdom in a position where I had to be very delicate in bringing up Christ. Working in ministry gives me the opportunity to interact with others and openly share my faith and what God has done in my life. Second, I have a great forever friend. She was at the hospital for about the last 20 hours of my labor and entertained my family that was very tiredly awaiting the birth of our stubborn little girl. However, we don't live close to one another and our schedule are often conflicting making it hard to see each other. Since finishing college and getting married, I have desperately needed more strong women of faith in my life. I have been blessed with some along the way, but have found so many more in my coworkers and those that I interact with on a regular basis now. We are living life together. It is amazing what a blessing that can be. Additionally, I have found that despite regularly reading my Bible, I have grown rusty on my theology as compared to when I was attending a Christian school and using it regularly. I am brushing off the dust and rust because I am using all of that knowledge more regularly and beyond just my own study. And the added bonus, I dropped all my baby weight plus some with the removal of stress and being able to fully embrace and find peace in where Christ has placed me.
These verses struck me so significantly because as I wrestled through these tough decisions and made some choices that meant I get funny looks because I chose God's plan, my faith and family, over my career, I always knew that God had a plan and was with me through it all. I can't even imagine the despair of going through a tough time without that peace and comfort. In Jeremiah, God told those that were in exile that He sent them their and would bring them back. If they called on Him and sought Him out with heart and soul, they would find Him and He will listen. We may not always know the plans, but when Christ calls and we follow, with the confidence that He has a plan for us, we are never without HOPE.
No comments:
Post a Comment