Waiting

 You have a dream...a goal...things you desire in your heart to do, see, say, be.  But God says "Wait my child.  Not yet".  Oh, isn't that hard to hear?  You feel like hes keeping you from your blessings and you don't understand why he's making you wait.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 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.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.   You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

We can mistakenly think that God’s plan is always going to be a “feel good” plan with the intent to make us happy. Jeremiah’s message in these verses is actually radically different.  He’s writing to a group of people who are being held captive, and are in exile from their homeland.  He’s writing to let them know that although they’re not where they would have expected, nor where they would have asked God to place them, God has not forgotten them and He still has a plan for their lives.  Even in the midst of a difficult situation, God wants them to know His plans.

Sometimes God puts us in captivity - a job we despise, financial difficulties, a time of struggle in relationships - he puts us there to teach us something.  He's not doing it to make our lives difficult, but to help us learn to lean on Him and Trust Him and His ways.   So many bad things happen to good people.  I often hear the question "Why?"  I can't answer all the time why good things happen to bad people.  God is not a respecter of persons when He has an ultimate plan.  God's ways are sovereign and sometimes we may never know why He does what He does.  As the picture above says, God is going before us making our crooked paths straight.  He has a plan and He's putting all the pieces in place for us.   We may not understand but He's not asking us to understand, just to trust Him. 

Do you trust Him?  Are you willing to relinquish control of your life and live by faith, not by fact?  Are you willing to trust Him in spite of your circumstances and trust that He has a plan for you.  Are you willing to wait on the Lord as the verse below states "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him".  I know its hard, and sometimes the road He has us on is bumpy and rough and filled with lots of pot holes, but God never promised us an easy road, just that He would be there to help us through.

For those who are struggling today, find Hope in knowing that God has a plan.  Wait on Him, Trust Him and He will make your paths straight.