This day and age it just seems so risky to take any new steps or venture out onto uncharted waters. National unemployment rates are at 8.2%. Gas prices rising daily and it just seems every day the cost of daily essentials seem to rise.
In the area I live in, you see strip malls that are now closed. As well as businesses that would have been flourishing a decade ago have either shut down or moved. I am still amazed that tried & true corporationa are no longer in business. Plus on our local news they are now posting job listings and career fairs, a sign of the rough times we are living in.
YET.....despite all we see as we look around us and watch the nightly news God has a promise. In fact God has a Plan.
We read in Jeremiah 29:11 this uplifting verse:
"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. "
For those who are struggling like I am, I want to state that I have faith that God is showing us to a place where things will be better. I have found that when you pray and ask of God (and are willing to listen to God) that He will show you what to do and will direct you. It may not come the first time, in fact it may take a few prayers or maybe even years, but you will know. It will be quiet. It will be clear. It will be precise. It may even come from another person approaching you. Either way The Spirit will guide you and direct you to know. For if God says He has a Plan for your life, He will reveal that Plan.
God never makes a promise that He cannot fulfill. Like Romans 4:21 says: "He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises." plus we read at Hebrews 11:11 about Sarah who believed God would keep His promise to her of a son, even tho she was long past child bearing age. She was 90 when her son Issac was born. Her husband was 99.
Abraham and Sarah's story in fact is a great testimony to this. She and Abraham were childless for many, many years. This promise (God's Plan) was revealed at Genesis 17:15-22 God's Plan can be found in verse 19:
"Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him."
At Genesis 22:17 we read also: "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,"
Now it did not happen over night when God promised this. While waiting for the promise to be fulfilled, Sarah offered Abraham her maid servant Hagar to bear a son. Not a good idea as this ended up leading to a lot of problems. Which we can read about at Genesis 16.
Which goes to show that we all need to trust God and have patience for His timing as our timeline differs from God's. As humans I think we lack the perspective to see what the future can really hold for us. To see the great plans and have faith on God and them.
In the end Hagar had Ishmael and Sarah ended up having Isaac. Just like God promised she would. Even on the date He promised she would bear him. Due to their impatience though, there ended up being enmity in the households. Later this would transfer to the descendants and nations that came from either son. Which shows it's best to simply wait on God.
Myself as testimony I am believing on this scripture and know God will reveal His plans to each of us. God has promised us strength, purpose, joy and hope as we search and wait. For the Scripture says at Isaiah 55:11: "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." so with each day seek to trust and believe Him when He says:
"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. "
No comments:
Post a Comment