Skip to main content

Plans and Water-Walking

                 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.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

          “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. (Matthew 14:29)

          Jeremiah 29:11 was the verse on Biblegateway.com this morning. I’ve written about it often, but it connects nicely with other verses that have come to mind over the past couple of days. If you read my Monday comment, you may have noticed. I ‘ve been busy doing things I want to do and that I have thought I was supposed to do, but it’s as if I suddenly looked up and didn’t recognize my surroundings. Where am I? Am I on the right road(s)? Have I made gods of gardening and writing? Or am I building ministries? Am I walking in His will, or am I insisting that He walk in mine? I want His will and my will to be the same, but how do I make sure His has priority? Am I allowed (or supposed) to find joy in my mission(s)?

          And as I struggle with those questions, I know some people are struggling with the sense that their mission has ended, and they don’t know what to do. Still others are looking at all the options they face and wonder how to choose wisely.

          And my thoughts go back to “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are, now.” That may require getting out of the boat and walking on water. And if we sink, God will rescue us.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more