I am sure if you have read any of my past articles, 2018 was a year of uphill and downhill motions. Regarding my relationship with God, it has been through its trials and tribulations this past year more than ever.
Jeremiah 29 10-14
10 This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 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. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity.[b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
If you have dealt with any uncertainty recently, Jeremiah 29 has been the saving grace of my past year and maybe can save you too.
For I know the plans I have for you
He says, "For I know the plans I have for you". In times when I was going through so much change and struggling alone, this simple confirmation made me sure that I wasn't in it alone at all. I had a grace that was stronger than I knew and something that was pushing me to greatness without me even realizing it. God himself always has had a plan for us and even if we can't see it now, these trials are pushing us to reach out to Him and ask for help and guidance to bring us closer in a relationship and strengthing our path to finding out our purpose and what He wants from us.
Plans to give you hope and a future
Especially at this age, I feel like everything is constantly changing and turning out to be what I least expected. Not everyone has a problem with that and some people love change and not knowing what the future holds. But, for me, I struggle with a lot of anxiety and the want for set plans. Over the course of 2018, when literally every aspect of my life changed, I realized I needed to stop putting so much stress on myself and completely give myself to God and let him take hold of me and my future and the life I am supposed to live for eternal happiness and love. Whether it was inspiration I found abroad that made me want to change the course of my future, or the stress of not enough money, or moving to a new city, relationships ending, new relationships starting, confusion of my purpose and if being alone is what will satisfy me, I had all of these battles always on my plate, confusing me with the directions I was suppose to go in. Turns out, I hadn't submerged my heart with God. I needed to let go and let him take the course that my life needed. I know that he is pulling the strings now whereas before I was forcing myself to over plan, overstress, and figure out things that in the grand scheme of this beautiful life, just don't matter. He has a future lined up for me and fate and prayer will take a hold of that.
This bible scripture truly was the rock that my life needed this past year. It held me feel grounded when I felt like I was floating above a life I couldn't grasp. I used this scripture every day to feed my heart with the assurance that God knows best. I don't. I think that if we allow ourselves to understand the actual power that this God can give us, it will be everchanging. I will never underestimate the power of his love and plan.
