God's Plans

"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 upon 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. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. 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."

Jeremiah 29:11-14


I love these verses of scripture. They are such a word of encouragement to me no matter what circumstance I might be in! Isn’t it great to know that when we seek the Lord with all our heart we will find Him!

Well, I often think of this verse when I think about my friend Leigh and her children. For those of you that may not know, right after Curtis and I got married I helped Leigh and her husband with their two kids while she battled cancer. April 9 marked Leigh’s one year anniversary of her Homecoming and long-awaited healing.

I am thrilled for her that she is finally through with her suffering here on earth and her faith is now sight, but my heart continues to break for those little babies left behind without their mommy. As I said in an earlier post, I believe the Bible is without error – it is whole truth. As hard as these circumstances are, this is part of God’s plan for Lauren, now 5 years old, and Owen, now 2 ½ years old, -- God is sovereign -- and He will use this to prosper them – to give them a hope and a future.

This is hard to understand. After all, it was God who designed a family to have a father and a mother. What’s more, the role of the mother is that to nurture and raise her children. So what gives? The promise I find in this scripture for all of us – including Lauren and Owen – is this: when we call upon the Lord and pray to Him, He hears us; when we seek Him (His nature and His will for our lives) we will find it. But, when our lives are consumed by knowing Him, His will for our lives and reflecting Him to others – He will bring us back from our “captivity”.

This is my prayer for these two children: that they may know Whose they are and develop a strong desire to serve Him – even while they are young. Certainly this won’t bring their sweet mother back. That’s not what God is promising. He’s promising His peace, His comfort, His strength to get through the circumstances of life. He promises to bring us out of the captivity of striving within ourselves and drowning in our circumstances. He is the ability to live above circumstances.

If you would, please pray for Lauren and Owen – especially the week of June 16-20. They will be going to VBS at my church and learning the names of God. What an answer to prayer! They will learn He is Jehovah – Or (the Lord is light and provides direction for His people), Yahweh (the Unchanging One), Jehovah Shammah (the Lord is there), and Jehovah Shalom (the Lord is peace and brings comfort).


They can always use prayer though. (Can't we all!) Lauren also suffers from Cystic Fybrosis -- a disease that currently doesn't have a cure. Lauren also starts kindergarten this fall. Though she looks normal -- the loss of her mother and having CF makes her pretty different from most kids.

Even more reasons for them to learn this at this point in their life. God is there to show them His plans for their life, He will never change, He is always with them to bring you peace and comfort! What a BIG God!