~~~~~~~~~Fear Not- learning to be fearless in a fearful world~~~~~~~~



Key Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you.” Declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”



Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 29:4-14

The verse that I picked for today’s devotional doesn’t have the word fear in it as most of the devotionals I send out do, but I think it is very relevant for us as we seek to overcome fear. So many of us spend so much time really searching for our purpose and trying so hard to “figure out” exactly what God has called us to do, that we are afraid we might miss it. Or we do know the seeds of purpose that God has put into our hearts, and we feel like we aren’t where we are supposed to be and doing what God has called us to do. I have to admit this has been a struggle for me some times in the last couple of years. I know of some dreams and desires that really are in my heart. Things that I believe are from God, but when I look around and look at how my life is going, I have felt like I am missing out on God’s call for me. It seems like if God put a vision in my heart; shouldn’t I really be living it- right now? So I think that things should be going a specific way, and then they don’t so I may tend to get a little discouraged, discontented, and distracted.

Jeremiah 29:11 has been a favorite verse of mine since college. I just loved the thought that God does have a plan for my life and he knows what it is. I guess deep down though I thought that- yes he has a plan and yes it is for hope and a future, but I think I secretly expected that future to be right now! I wasn’t taking into account the fact that I might need to grow and learn more before all the plans could come to pass. This past weekend I went to the Joyce Meyer Annual Women’s convention and the theme was on Purpose and Passion. I have to admit that I was pretty excited. I mean maybe God would really reveal to me what His purpose truly is for me. And yes he did! The same purpose that I always knew was there. I am supposed to keep plugging on and learning and going forward to what is in my heart. But what I think I really got out of this weekend was figuring out what my purpose is for right now. That maybe there is a long term purpose and a short term purpose.

When you are planning for your future you make short term goals and long term goals if you want to be the most effective. If you just make long term goals and neglect the short term then chances are you will not be as effective in meeting your goal because you may get distracted along the way. If you only make short term goals, and don’t think about the long term because it is not right now, then you will never get past living in the right now. I do need to keep my vision of what is coming. I do need to thank God and believe for what I know he has in store for me, but in the mean time I also need to work on the now and what his plan is for me right now.

So what is his plan right now? We read in Jeremiah 29 that Israel was in Babylon living in captivity. Was that ultimately where God wanted them? Was it even God’s best plan for them from the beginning? No, this was just where they were at this time in their life. So many of the people were spending so much time looking forward to the future when God was going to take them out of THIS place and put them in the NEW place, that they were not truly living in the now. They were so focused on what was to come, that they despised where they were. Oh man, how easy it is to despise where we are now. And when I say despise I don’t mean a strong hatred, I just mean being discontented and confused. Being miserable thinking I don’t want to be here anymore! Maybe our situation isn’t even that bad, it is just not what we had dreamed of or hoped for. Maybe life is good, but we still feel discontented because this is not where we expected to be or really want to be. What did God tell the Israelites in our passage? He told them to live where they were. Not to just exist either- they were to truly live. He told them to plant gardens, eat the fruit. Get married, have kids, to increase where they were! Then he told them to pray for the peace of the city where they were. The city was full of people who had come and carried them away to captivity- and God was telling them to pray for peace for them! He said in praying for peace for them, they would receive peace. He also said at the right time, at the time appointed he would come and perform his good word towards them. He said they will call upon him and he will listen to them. That they would seek him, and find him, when they sought him with all their heart.

I think we need to realize our purpose in this time in our life is learning to find the joy and passion to do what is in front of us right now. Are we where we are ultimately going to end up? No, probably not. Are we where God wanted us to begin with- maybe, maybe not? Maybe we are directly in God’s original will for us, and maybe some of us ended up in places, God didn’t originally want us to go. But it doesn’t matter how we got where we are, whether it is where we should be, or where we just are, God will use us where we are. He will take the things that we have done, the person we are now, and work it for good. God tells us in Ps 37:4 to delight ourselves in him and he will give us the desires of our heart. What is our purpose right now?

In Colossians 3:23 it tells us that whatever we do, we are to do it heartily and do it unto the Lord and not unto men. If we are wives- we need to do that heartily, it is our purpose to be the best wives we can be. If we are moms, it is our purpose to be the best mom we can be. If we are business women it is our purpose to do the best job we can do for our current employer. If we are housewives it is our purpose to make our home a loving environment for our family. Does that mean that we have to give up our dream of something else? No, it means that right now we ponder those things in our heart. We treasure the dreams with hopeful expectation. We see if there is anything we need to do now to prepare for the fulfillment of our dreams. Maybe we need to go back to school; maybe we need to take better care of our bodies so that we can have the energy and strength for the time of fulfillment, maybe we need to pray for divine connections. We need to take the steps towards our dreams and ultimate purposes, but at the same time we need to find joy in the purpose of now. Love our families, love our friends, comfort those around us, live a life pleasing to the Lord- and as we do this and acknowledge him he will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6).

I challenge you to live a life of purpose on purpose this week.



Confession/Prayer

Father God,

I thank you that you do have good plans for me. That you created me with purpose and for a purpose. I ask you to speak to my heart and help me to hear you. Show me the steps that you want me to take. Help me to be patient as I go down this road, and help me to be full of joy and peace so that I can show your light to the world around me.

In Jesus name

Amen







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