Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.
Thought for the Day: The people of Israel find their current circumstance to be horrible, yet God seems to suggest that they are to accept this new reality. Salvation can be found even in this foreign land. What God suggests in the above verse is a reality that would have been nearly impossible to imagine. As I think about this moment in Israel’s history, I am reminded of words I shared in a sermon years ago: Accept life for what it is without accepting life for what it is. Ok…it’s probably nonsense, yet I think there are moments in life when so much is beyond our control. It is what it is, and nothing will change it. We need to accept it for what it is, but it does not mean we accept it as right or good. It does not mean we throw in the towel and relinquish hope. It does not mean we remove God from the equation. When everything had changed and most of the Israelites taken into Exile would die before the return, God still had plans for peace and hope for the people in their exile. Salvation can still be found in a foreign land.
Prayer: Let me hear your plans for me, Lord God, even when I feel trapped and the future I dreamed has vanished. Let me hear your plans for me, Lord, the plans for peace and hope. Amen.
SATURDAY NIGHT
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Continuing Our Growth
Toward Spiritual Maturity
