This Day in History: 0000-06-03

June 3 – Jeremiah 29:11-13 

“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.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 

Today is our anniversary. The date on which my love and I commemorate another day, many years ago, when we promised to stand by each other for better or for worse and to forsake all others for as long as we both shall live.  Obviously, those vows didn’t exactly turn out to be what I believed they were on that day. In light of the past betrayals, our anniversary has turned into a mixed bag of emotions. It brings with it the reminder of those broken promises, but it also lends us a chance to celebrate the incredible transforming work of God in our marriage. Still, it’s difficult to look at our wedding picture without a twinge of pain. How I wish I could talk to that girl with all that hope in her eyes and prepare her for what was to come.

But on this day of shattered vows, may we all choose to focus on the promises that will never fail – the promises of the Lord!  No matter the pain you or I have endured, none of it has caught Him off guard.  Though we may not have seen it coming, He did.  And still He promises that He is working all things together for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purposes.   

While the promises in these verses in Jeremiah were given specifically to Israel, their message lines up with many other promises in Scripture that apply to us.  For that reason,  (and also because of our identity as those grafted into the promises of God to Israel) I believe we can claim this promise as well and take comfort in these perfect words:  “I know the plans I have for you, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

No matter how the future may seem today, God has a plan for each and every one of His precious children! Those plans are ones that will bring good to our future. And that should fill us with hope!  Whether the people we love are faithful or not, our God is always faithful, and He tells us when we pray, He will listen!  He promises that if we look for Him wholeheartedly we will find Him.  Let’s look for Him, and be confident that He will never, ever disappoint us.  Let’s take advantage of His listening ear and pour out our hearts to Him every day.