For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11, an often used Scriptural encouragement, is only relevant and meaningful if you read and grapple with the context of this promise. This encouraging promise was written for a people struggling within a season of suffering...hardship...a time of displacement and uncertainty. God's people were living in captivity; a place difficult to call "home".
God told the children of Israel that it would be 70 years...yes seventy years, before He would, in essence, rescue them out of captivity and bring them back to their true place of residence. Ugh…what a long season. Yet in the midst of their captivity, God invited them to flourish. He instructed them to eat from their gardens, marry, build homes, have children and grandchildren, and to pray for their community. During their season of waiting...during this time of sitting within hardship...He invited them to keep living...to participate in things that are life giving. He knew that this was only possible if they prepared their hearts to settle in...to stay.
We often miss the wonder of today's pain because our focus is on anticipated future release. While we long for dancing...we forget that the sweet and jubilant steps of dancing are birthed after a season of mourning. Yet in His faithfulness, God reminds us of what it is to thrive through each moment.
There is a significant difference between "making the best of it" and "flourishing". Making the best of it tends to have negative connotations; as if one must endure almost needlessly. Flourishing infuses purpose within waiting and difficulty. It breaths life over difficulty as it invites us to bloom where we are planted and become beautiful amidst the trials we face.
While we sit in these hard places, we can choose to hold our hands open wide in sweet release and focus our thoughts on the God who understands our pain…the One who is acquainted with suffering…the One who Himself wished for things to be different. As we listen to His words, as recorded in Mark 14:36, may we find strength in similar verbiage. “Abba, Father,” He cried out, “everything is possible for You. Please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.”
Beautiful Masterpieces…Choose life. Bloom where you’re planted. It’s not just about surviving…it’s about thriving! It’s about fiercely flourishing!! And we can choose it!
