Friday, May 15 2020 Devotional
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 When our world seems to be falling apart, we’re tempted to think God has forgotten about us. When our plans suddenly go up in smoke, our expectations of health, prosperity, and success are ripped away, we think God has lost control and evil people or evil circumstances have taken over. The Jews were about to be hauled off in chains to Babylon. Everything had been destroyed, even the glorious temple, the most secure thing in the world, where the very presence of God dwelt among them, the very symbol of their national unity and identity, had been destroyed, burned, and flattened. Then Jeremiah gives them this word of hope. He tells them that after 70 years of exile during which He will be purifying them and turning their hearts back to Him and to His Word, He will bring them back to the land. For I know the plans I have for you... God hasn’t lost control. The circumstances and the people that seem evil to us are merely tools in His hand to purify our hearts, cleanse away the dross, and turn us into vessels of glory, fit for the master’s use. The outcome depends on how we respond to it all. Will you let Him draw your heart closer to Him through whatever happens today? Lord, I acknowledge that whatever comes, You are the Lord. Make of me what You want. I trust you, whatever happens. Help me keep my eyes on you, not on my own plans, my own strength, or the false security this world offers. Jesus is Lord! Amen! Pastor Dan Giles