The Sure Hope

"'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.'"

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT

Things couldn't get much worse.  The nation of Judah, God's chosen people, were in captivity, exiled from their beloved land, carried off by the Babylonians to live as foreigners in their strange land.  But God had not forgotten them.  As far away as they were from the temple, as distant as they felt from His presence, they were still on His mind.

He has not forgotten me, either.  No matter how far away I feel, how much on the fringes, how homeless and hopeless, desperate in my suffering or exiled in my sin, I am still on God's mind.  Here is the sure hope I have in Christ.

Good Plan.  It's nice to know God has a plan, although sometimes I may wonder when I look at my life.  It may seem like a series of unconnected, haphazard events that have no bearing on the arc of my life.  But He has a blueprint for my life that will bring about good for me and glory for Himself.  Even though I take many missteps and get off-track, His plan works around my weakness, superseding my humanness so that He always prevails.

I was recently talking to an older friend who was telling me about her long, productive life.  As she gave me a birds-eye view, I could see a pattern.  God had begun preparing her at a young age for the difficult task of later caring for her mother and then her husband as they progressed through the stages of dementia.  She trained in the field of nursing, entering into the specialty of caring for the memory-impaired, working for years in that line of work long before she knew her loved ones would be touched by such tragedy.  Yet she never considered there was a master plan let alone an Architect behind her decisions.  She saw it as just a series of random events that happened to work out in a positive way.

In reality, God has such a plan as this for each life, whether it is acknowledged or not.  Thus, I can look forward with hope to the good things He has in store for me.  When I take a close look, desiring to see His handiwork, I will see His mark.  If He went so far as to sacrifice His own Son in order to save me from eternal separation from Him, won't He do whatever it takes to give me the life He created for me (Romans 8:32)?  Is there anything or anyone, including myself, that can stop His plan from unfolding?  I think not.

I have the hope of God's good plan that is designed for my good and His glory.

Attentive.  It's hard to imagine or even fathom.  God is so big, so awesome, so majestic, why would He even bother with the likes of me?  With all that He has on His plate, keeping the planets aligned and the stars from crashing into each other, each heart beating and every complicated system running, how is He even able to pay attention to what is going on with my insignificant life?  Yet He does.

If God had a refrigerator, my picture would be proudly displayed there.  He delights in me, tickled by my very existence (Zephaniah 3:17).  There's nothing I have to do to prove my worth or to capture His eye.  I already have His undivided attention because I was created for His purposes.  The very fact that He made me in His own image gives me unimaginable worth.  It causes Him to rejoice over me!  Therefore, when I cry out to Him, He hears, even if I can't imagine such a thing.  When I share my heart with Him, He treasures such intimacy, even if He feels very far away at the moment.  When I speak, He listens, even if I feel abandoned.

I have the assurance of God's attentive and compassionate nature.

Approachable.  He is holy (Isaiah 6:3, Psalm 77:13).  Hallowed is His very name (Matthew 6:9).  Consecrated is His divine nature.  My sin makes coming near to Him impossible (Isaiah 59:2).  I feel dirty and ashamed to even think about reaching out to Him.  I mean, who do I think I am, anyway?  To approach God himself?  Forget it, it's just not proper.

It's good to understand God's holy nature and to stand in awe of Him, yet Jesus changed everything.  When He gave His life on the cross as a ransom for my sin, His blood covers my filthiness when I trust my life to Him, making me appear as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).  Because of this imputed righteousness that comes by faith in Him, I can unashamedly come to God whenever I wish (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:16).  The heavy curtain that used to shroud the holy of holies that represented God's presence in His temple has been torn, symbolizing God's accessibility through faith in Jesus (Matthew 27:51).  The heart of God is for Him to be part of His peoples' lives.  It is not His desire to exist as an aloof deity who sits high above and never interacts with those He created.  Instead, He desires to be found.  And He made it easy for the common man to find Him if they look with all their heart.

I have complete and total access to God through faith in Jesus.

Even when I'm at my worst, have hit bottom, couldn't get any lower, I have hope.  How?  Because God designed His creation to be infused with it.  Hope is found in His good plan for me, in His attentive nature, and in His approachable Spirit.  Through Jesus, I have a sure hope.  And so, you see, no matter how bad things seem, there is good to be found.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to look for His handiwork in the midst of the mess.

When do I despair, feeling as if there is no hope?

How do I fail to look for God, feeling like He's far away even though He's right there waiting to be found?