James 4:14 “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Well, here we are again at the beginning of a new year. We are busy making plans, making those New Year’s resolutions, all in hopes of this year being a good year. All the preparing and the planning can quickly change in a second. When we have lost a child, we learn that lesson quickly. We discover God’s plans are not our plans and we usually like our plans better. Often times when time marches forward, we discover that God’s plan has produced a much better outcome than any plan we had.
I found comfort in this commentary, “This life cannot be properly understood without considering the spiritual realms, a realm that impinges on and ultimately determines the material realm in which we live day to day.” Maybe we’ve heard this until the holes in our ears have grown over, but God is the only one looking through every layer and at every implication. He also looks upon a situation in context of what is, what was, and what is to come. His deliberations don’t just involve immediate impact. He sees our place and our positions amid carefully woven generations.
Sometimes our future can seem scary. What might this next year hold for us? If we truly believe that whatever happens to us has been filtered through the hands of God, why are we afraid? If we believe He has looked through every layer and implication of our life and His promise is to prosper us, would that change our view of our trials? Whatever comes our way in this New Year, it comes from our God who has deliberated over it and sees the impact of it far into the future.
Beth Moore states, “What if we understood down to the marrow of our bones that His is the only plan that really does end up prospering us? What if we really believed Jeremiah 29:11, ‘I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future?’” If we could truly let that sink into every cell of our being, no matter what this New Year holds for us, we can know it will prosper us.
Lord, at times Your plans seem to be our undoing, that is until we lean on You and watch as You work a miracle into our broken lives.
-- Michele
