The Grace Journal : Jeremiah 29:11

Life is hard. There is no denying it.

We travel this road of life doing our best to follow the "right" path and do the "right" thing, but what happens when we don't? What happens when we get off on the wrong exit? Are we forever stuck where we don't want to be?

I was thinking about that today while driving home from the grocery store (my kids are all in school or else deep thoughts would not have been occurring. LOL)

I had stopped to get gas and wondered if there was a different way to get to my house from this particular gas station and I thought "but what if I get lost?" and immediately the next thought was "oh...mapquest can just reroute me."

As I got back in my car, I kept thinking of that idea and how dependent we are on technology to get us where we need to be (hello...does any one even OWN a paper map anymore!?)

And then...I had this thought:

God is our Mapquest. His perfect will is the highway is paved with the perfect plans and shined down upon by the perfect weather.

However, life is not perfect. We are human. There will always been things and people that will cause us to exit.

(1) Sin.

The obvious first reason is just flat our bad choices. We sleep with that girl/boy we barely know. We click on that link to that website that we know we shouldn't. We return that text to someone who isn't our spouse. The list goes on and on.

BUT...your are not alone. Romans 3:23 says "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The difference being...what do you do once you get off the highway?

Do you acknowledge "I missed up." and get right back on the highway? OR Do you make that right turn and keep going...allowing yourself to get further and further from the highway.

(2) People

There will always be people who use their freewill to mess with your journey. Their choices will force your off an exit you never thought your would be on. Your spouse comes home and surprises you with divorce papers. Someone makes the choice to drink and drive and you or someone you love becomes the victim. Someone steals your identity and ruins your excellent credit.

NONE of these are your fault, but they still cause us to exit.

Some exits are short because circumstances are easily fixed...like when you realize "oh wait...my exit is the next one" and you get right back on the highway.

Some are a little longer...like when you get off on the wrong exit, make a right turn, and end up on some crazy detour through Timbuktu before joyously finally seeing the highway sign again.

BUT...just because it's long doesn't always mean it can't be beautiful. Have you ever taken a wrong turn and although you're stressed out, you look around and see just acres and acres of beautiful wheat fields blowing in the breeze? Or passed by a crystal lake and seen the birds diving for fish? Or stopped at a hole in the wall restaurant for directions and found the BEST apple pie you have ever eaten?

Sometimes we just have to make the best of an exit until God is able to turn our car back to the highway.

(3) Outside Circumstances

No one wakes up one morning and says "Today...I'm going to get cancer." or "Today...I choose to be infertile." or "Today...I choose to have my house burnt the ground."

There will always be things in life that we don't understand. That is where faith comes in to play.

The very definition of faith is spelled out in Verse 1 of Hebrews 11 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence not seen."

Even though you don't SEE evidence of the scripture on healing that says "who [God] forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases" {Psalm 103:3} or 1 Peter 2:24 "by his stripes your are healed" it doesn't mean that healing does not exist. It is just an exit.

In God's perfect will...there is not sickness or headache. It is just that...perfect.

HOWEVER...we live in a fallen world...with fallen people and fallen experiences.

BUT...here's the good news...Jeremiah 29:11-13 says God has "plans" for us. Plural. As in more than one.

I clicked through almost 40 version of the bible looking at this scripture and even though some said "thoughts" and some said "plans" one thing was the same...they all were plural forms of the word.

GOD HAS PLANS.

And even better...if you read the whole scripture is says 11 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. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen.13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

Those PLANS...all of them? THEY ARE GOOD! No plan that is God's is second best. Romans 8:28 says "All things work for my good."

Couple that with the multiple PLANS he has for you and that tells me that no matter what...even the bad exits can be worked for your good and the good of those around you.

Exits will happen in life. BUT God has so many plans to always help guide you back to his perfect will for you.

The question is...will you allow him to get you back to the highway...or do you choose to stay on the exit?

Until next time.

KERI

Broken dreams hurt.

Anyone who says otherwise has either never dreamed big and failed or is a big fat liar. (Lol)

If you care about something enough to dream of it and pursue it it means you have put your very HEART on the line for the sake of this thing you are pursuing. And when it doesn't happen the way we dreamed it would or doesn't happen at all, our heart is broken and we are in pain and mourning over our lose.

Then you're left wondering "Why not? Why me? I tried so hard." And then doubt seeps in "Maybe I'm not that good." "Maybe I did something wrong." "What is wrong with me?"

Ever been there? I have. More times than I've wanted to be. And I have allowed those doubts and thoughts to roam around my brain, keeping me preoccupied and down and prisoner.

But..what if I told you...there is more dreams to be dreamt and more hopes to be had? What would you say?

This morning, I saw this quote from Pastor Mark Barnett from The Dream Center and it said "At the end of a broken dream is always a new one." And at first I'm like "oh what a positive happy-go-lucky-unicorns-and-rainbows outlook on life." (Anybody else feel that way when you're in a rough patch and see something like this?!?!)

After a few minutes of internally laughing at my own hilarity (did I mention it was EARLY this morning?), I said to myself "ok...this guy is a well respected pastor...there has to some biblical backing to this statement."

It was then that I remembered the beginning of Jeremiah 29:11:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD...

Do you see it? Do you see the promise of infinite dreams? It's small and easy to miss, but it's there....

It's PLANS...with an a S...that means multiple paths your life can take...not just one.

And what's even better...read the second half of the verse:

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. {bold added by me.}

No matter which one of God's PLANS we are on...they are ALL GOOD. They are for us to be prosperous, unharmed and to have a hopeful future.

Does that mean they will always be smooth sailing? No because we live in a world of humans who make mistakes and a sinful world that would like nothing more than to make you THINK you are alone.

Does that mean all your dreams will come true like a Disney Princess? No...because our dreams are not always God's dreams and sometimes God always OUR dreams to be interrupted because he has something BETTER in mind for his children.

It is very easy for us to get hung up on what "could have been" or what we wanted and lose sight of the GOOD that can come over that dream being gone.

One of the comments on this quote on facebook referenced a book by an author named Larry Crabb named "Shattered Dreams" and he said it so well: "Sometimes God shatters lower dreams, so that He can reveal higher dreams to us."

Be open to higher dreams...even if it means having to break a few lower dreams along the way.

Xoxo,

Keri.

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