Good Thoughts!

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord , thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11 KJV

God speaks here again. The context of today's extract is not so good. How do you hear God's voice when everything around you is falling to pieces? How does God catch and hold your attention when you are busy minding other 'valid' cares of this life? Here were people who had been warned by God not to delve into idolatry, but comfort and convenience had made them careless and carefree. Now, they were in exile- lost, hopeless and depressed. However, there was one thing they had that no circumstance or situation could take away from them - God's unending love.

I am where I am today because of that same love. Things may have gone out of  control, but the One who is in charge cannot be overthrown or thrown off balance. When all around me is sinking sand, He is the Solid Rock. You see, God's nature is not defined by my own inconsistent standards but by God's own unchanging standards. He is God, not because I say he is, but in spite of what I say.

I could be in trouble, yet God will be just a prayer away. I could be in a foreign land, unknown to anyone,  yet God would know my next steps. His thoughts are always good, because he is a good God who does good things. Even when things don't go the way you plan, God remains good. When you have prayed, like the Jews here,  expecting a miracle, and it appears God is saying something different, his plans are all good. The fact that I do not hear what I want does not mean that God is not speaking. The fact that God says 'Hold on' when everything around me is screaming 'Run", means that God is seeing something I do not yet see. The fact that God says 'Stay here' does not mean that God cannot move me from here to there in an instant. Joseph the dreamer is a classic example.

The next time the devil brings thoughts of your not being good enough for God, remind yourself that you have a good God as Father, one who keeps the good end in view, even as he works all things around you to that good end that he planned. His time of favour is here.