Has God forgotten me in my trouble?

Today's Precious Prodigal's Post = http://bit.ly/1Va3Jsw

Like what you see?

Please "Like" & "Share" with your online friends.

Want to read more? Go To: preciousprodigal.com

= = = = = 

Jeremiah 29:11 “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.” (NIV)

So there I was with several writing projects close to completed and facing deadlines on others when I found out I had to have unexpected surgery. NOT my plan for how to spend this beautiful week in early spring. I especially don’t like this detour because I believe with all my heart that God wants me to write.

I believe I am giving God first place in every word I write…at least that’s my goal. If this God, who loves me, is to have first place in my life, how can that happen when I’m in the hospital? What does it look like? As I’ve meditated on that this week, some things occurred to me. The first is that God has a plan and a purpose for my life, and that plan or the steps of that plan might not be the same as mine.

Jeremiah 29:11 doesn’t just tell us that God has a plan. It also says that God’s plan is to prosper us and to give us a hope and a future. The tense used is present progressive. That means it’s an ongoing process (i.e. “the plans I am planning”).

God didn’t just throw together a plan in the far away past. He is presently implementing and overseeing that very plan...the one He had for you and me when He created us…a plan for our benefit, even if it doesn’t seem that way. And whether it’s loving a prodigal or spending an extra day in the hospital in significant pain from a surgery, it mostly doesn’t feel that way.

It’s not easy to see God’s hand in our lives when our prodigal has broken another curfew, told another lie, betrayed another trust. It isn’t easy to see God’s hand when we get that biopsy back, when the doctor calls us with a scary diagnosis, or our husband walks away without looking back.

And hope? How can we have hope when a situation not only seems hopeless today, but also for the future because the past is filled with disappointment, loss and pain? How can I have hope when I’m fearful about the results of a biopsy or the outcome of a surgery? Can one really hope when we’re out of work and flat on our back not knowing how we’re going to buy food? Those are hard question, aren’t they?

I believe the answer can be found in the reality that God is either everything or He is nothing. There’s no in between with the God of the universe. If he’s nothing, we might as well throw up our hands and quit, resigning ourselves to a miserable today and a terrible tomorrow.

But if He’s everything…oh, if He’s everything…then we can trust Him and believe He is working in every situation…even the worst one we can imagine. We can trust Him when everything within us is screaming, “This can’t possibly be God’s will!”

Maybe He isn’t working it out according to your plan or mine, but He is absolutely working it out to His purpose. And His purpose is to prosper us. If we can grasp that truth and hold on to it with a child-like trust, we can have serenity regardless of our circumstances.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, stood firm in the assurance that God has a plan for our lives, and that plan is to prosper us, to give us a hope and a future?

Reviews

[Moomin]

I have read several of your articles and enjoyed them immensely.

This one struck a chord with me because, like you, I am undergoing trauma and suffering. I hope your situation improves soon. You certainly seem to be a person of deep faith and i do admire the way you defend God in your writings (not that he needs defending).

Your words reflect your humility and patience. I have rearely comes across someoe so resigned and loyal as you seem to be (sorry, I don't assume too much from online connections.

I have one observation, if I may?

You speak of "God's plan" yet you still seem to accept his tolerance of evil. May I humbly offer an explanation that marries the two?

God "Permitted the nations (and therby the people) to go their own way." But, while mankind awaited the solution to evil and suffering, God sent his son to give a preview (a shadow, as Paul puts it), of the complete restoration of paradise on earth. Mankind will struggle on, against God's will, until "Thy kingdom comes, thy will be done, on EARTH as it is in Heaven."

Just a thought.

Great writing.

I wish you peace.

Moomin