"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
My family and I were watching a Christmas movie when towards the end of the movie it started to break up. The images were so distorted that we had to take the DVD out of the player to see what was causing the disturbance. In inspecting the DVD we found that it had some smudges of dust and dirt that was causing the problem. As we worked to solve our video dilemma, I thought how this illustrated very well what happened in the last two years (2020-2021( They started as a new years with great opportunity and promise. But what we got was a severe smudge of darkness, destruction, and death. With the suffering and death caused by the pandemic, the violence and destruction caused by the protesting in our major cities. And the controversy of the presidential election, 2020 was a year, that will not be forgotten.
The Prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Jewish captives of Babylonia, encouraging them to move ahead with their lives, and pray for this pagan nation that held them hostage. What Jeremiah said to the nation of Israel, He says to us today.
As we enter this new year of 2022 we are beaten down as a nation.
We carry the the wounds of the pandemic both physically and emotionally, into this new year, and through time. But we need to remember that even though we struggle to see things getting better, God (through the prophet Jeremiah) tells us that He has plans for us. A plan to save us, to sustain us, and use us, as we live our lives out on planet earth. He gave us His Son to be our Savior, to save us from our sins, and to provide for us the gift of eternal life. It is in Jesus Christ, that we find our salvation, our sustenance, and our purpose.
And no matter if it is a pandemic, or any other crisis, or calamity, we have hope for tomorrow. Even if the trials of this life take our life, we have a bright eternal future. But this is only found in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
We need to do as Jeremiah instructs us.
We are to seek the Lord with all of our heart. And when we do He will be found, and we will find our deliverance and our place with Him forever. (29:11-14)
So Let's seek Him, and find Him, and let Him lift us up, for today, and tomorrow! GP
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