Bright Future

"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." --Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan for you. He has a plan for each of us, even if we don't always see the method to His madness while we walk the earth. But even though He has a plan, we're sometimes hesitant to seek it and walk in it. Those of us who have been walking with the Lord for any length of time know all too well that when God says He is going to prune away the parts of our characters and our lives that do not please Him (John 15:2), He means it. We also know that the process of having parts of you and your life sliced off, is not typically a pleasant experience. Since none of us by nature like to suffer and since we sometimes associate God's plan with suffering, we often seek our own way as the easy way out. But, ultimately, God's plan for us in not a plan of suffering. Yes, there may be some suffering involved along the way, but we can take comfort in the fact that our Father never allows suffering in our lives without a purpose. He uses the suffering to change and rebuild us, not to leave us permanently broken down. Suffering is not the goal of God's plan. Actually, His plans have quite the opposite end in mind according to God's words through Jeremiah. God has promised that the goal of His plan for each of us is goodness, peace, and hope. Even if we can't see it anywhere on our horizon, God has a good plan for our future. If we choose to our own way instead of God's, we may very well miss out on the full extent of goodness that He has planned for us. If we only saw the big picture, our momentary suffering may very well seem worth it! Instead of trying to avoid His discipline in our lives, we should rejoice that He loves us enough to prune us. Even more, instead of dread when we think of God's plan for us, we should wake up each morning filled with gratitude that we are allowed to be a part of a plan that includes a hopeful future.