Determined Obedience

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me." (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT)

This may be one of a group of frequently quoted scripture verses, but if we look closely at what God says here, it will be more than just a great 'logo' for a coffee cup! He knows the plans HE has for us. Will they always match up to OUR plans. Nope. Will his timing for those plans be OUR timing? Nope. Will we wish we knew more of the plan before we start doing whatever it is he asks? Yup. They are HIS plans for US. Plain and simple, we cannot outwit his plans, nor can we succeed when we challenge them by taking our own plans more seriously than his.

They are plans for good and not disaster. We need to grasp fully what he is telling us right there. He doesn't plan calamity, although it comes into our lives without us having any control over it. He does not plan chaos, although we may create it by our disobedience. Yet he doesn't plan for us to be without a hope and a future. We might face calamity and chaos with a different perspective when we come to realize these are not part of HIS plans for our lives. They come because we live in a sin filled world and we cannot control what others do. We can go through them with courage, hope, and the knowledge that he is right there with us, shielding us from harm as we do.

We pray - he listens. We seek with determined hearts - we find him waiting there for us. Those are two promises that are 'conditional'. We do our part - he does his. We surrender - he fills us up. We open up - he heals the broken places. We take the first step of obedience - he meets us there along the path and encourages us with each additional step. Pray and be heard. This is a promise we can really lean into. No prayer ever goes unnoticed or unacknowledged. Seek with purposeful intent and we will be rewarded with a deeper and more intimate relationship with him.

Maybe the toughest thing we will ever do is acknowledge that OUR plans are not all that great and that they haven't been working out all that well. What happens when we make that acknowledgement? He meets us right there and begins to take over the PLAN. It was HIS intention for us to trust him with our forward movement, not just with our 'backward cleanup'. Just sayin!