Tag: <span>jeremiah 29:11</span>

Chaos Now For Beauty Later
Published February 23, 2020

Chaos Now For Beauty Later

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

I am in the midst of a kitchen reno and my house looks like a disaster zone.

The simplest tasks are complicated and frustrating. The kettle is in the en suite bathroom, the tea bags are on the coach, the mugs are somewhere in the living room. Everything takes longer. Nothing looks familiar.

Even when it’s time to rest it’s hard to relax in a room that is literally stacked to the ceiling. The other day I stood on the bare concrete floor and thought about the beautiful kitchen that is going in. I remembered all the years I had prayed for a place of my own and I took a deep breath. “It’s chaos now for beauty later,” I said to my roommate and I heard a whisper in my heart. Oh, there’s a lesson in that.

If your life feels like a frustrating mess right now is it possible that God has renovations underway?

Isaiah 43:19 reminds us that God is at work before we’ve even noticed what He’s up to. We see the inconvenience; God sees a temporary diversion that sets us on the right path. Renovations, whether they’re in your kitchen or your heart, are a messy business. But it’s easier to tolerate the inconvenience when you have a picture of what’s coming.

God’s plans for us are so much more beautiful than the kitchen my little brain dreamed up. His plans give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) So if you’re in the midst of unwanted change, take a deep breath. It’s chaos now for beauty later.

Father in Heaven, When I look around me and see confusion and loss, pain and longing, injustice or slander or lack, remind me that You, the very God of Heaven know my name. You know the cry of my heart and You know the character I need to build to live out the plans You have for me. When it’s time to renovate, help me to yield graciously to the changes You have ordained for me. Help me to be quick to see You in the chaos and quick to remember that You have not forgotten me, or left me behind. I am never leftovers in your economy, never second best. Give me Your peace as I wait to see the beauty you are creating. In Your name I pray, Amen

Question: Is your life under construction? What verses do you find helpful when the world tilts? How has God brought beauty out of your chaos in the past?

By Claire Colvin
Used by Permission

We Welcome your comments.

Enter Email
reCAPTCHA

Comments: If you don’t see our response form, please go to https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/claire-colvin_chaos/

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughts-about-god.com/four-laws/

SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL: FOLLOW THIS LINK

Follow Us On:

facebooktwitterinstagrampinterest

 

 

 

___

thoughts by Claire Colvin Thoughts by Women

Hope for a Hopeless World
Published May 26, 2019

Hope for a Hopeless World

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 11-13 (NIV)

The word hope today is used in so many different ways such as  ‘I hope this exam is not too hard’, ‘I hope that my football team wins on Saturday’, ‘I hope I don’t embarrass myself tonight at the dinner part’, ‘I hope my Mum doesn’t find out it was me that spilled the tomato sauce on the carpet.’  Yes, most of us use the essence of the word hope in these sentences at least once a day and never think anything about it, but that is not the hope that God speaks about.

To people who have no place to sleep each night or are hungry and cold, those in countries torn apart by war, the many lonely people marginalized because of illness or situations not of their making, to so many, this world must appear to be a world without hope.

What do we, as Christians, have to offer them in the way of hope?  We need to read again and again the verses of scripture that we have been given, in order to keep seeking this Awesome God who gives us the inner strength and the words and deeds to offer to those who are without hope.  If we truly believe that God is in every situation and works alongside us, then we focus our hope on God and we can help those who are in need of a glimmer of light.

Verses like these:  1 Peter 1:3 ” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you“.

2 Thessalonians 2:16 “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word“.

Giver of life, focus our eyes on the promises which you give us so that we may bring hope to those who despair. Amen.

by Terry Stead

Used by Permission

We Welcome your comments.

Enter Email
reCAPTCHA

Comments: If you don’t see our response form, please go to https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/terry-stead_hopeless-world/

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: http://thoughts-about-god.com/four-laws/

Follow Us On:

facebooktwitterinstagrampinterestrss

 

 

 

___

Thoughts by All thoughts by Terry Stead Thoughts by Women