Morning Devotional 102622 Found!

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

October 26, 2022

Read Jeremiah 29:1-4

10 The LORD proclaims: When Babylon’s seventy years are up, I will come and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. 12 When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. 13 When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me. 14 I will be present for you, declares the LORD, and I will end your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have scattered you, and I will bring you home after your long exile, declares the LORD.

Good Morning, God plans a future of hope for us!

This morning as I consider this passage I appreciate the promise of peace and hope for the Israelites, for us, and for me. Sometimes it seems that our lives are jumbled and scattered like the time of exile for God’s children. As my thoughts wander and I try to hear God’s message for me this morning, I remember the boxes in my basement.

Again, I’m back to the challenges of moving. You would think by now that I would be an expert at the process known as moving with the packing and unpacking of all of my possessions. For the most part, I am settled, and much of what remains in boxes requires the difficult decision as to whether or not it is time to let go of this “treasure”.

However, there are still those elusive items that I know I packed and “need” (or maybe just want), that have yet to make themselves known. I wonder how one item that should have been in the same box as other items just isn’t there. Meanwhile, there are those items that have been missing from a previous move that are unexpectedly found. I rejoice because that which was lost now is found. As I sort through the cluttered boxes of my mind, suddenly my thoughts have shifted to another story of things (us) that were lost but then found.

We, God’s children, are tossed and unended by the challenges that we face. We make poor choices, others make poor choices, and some choices seem to be heaped upon us. We believe that we are strong and we will remain together, but some of us fall away or end up packed into those unexpected “boxes”. Jesus, the good shepherd, will search until we are found and brought back together. All will rejoice for that which was lost is now found. We sustain ourselves with faith and hope in God’s promises. When the gathering is complete, we will all see Jesus and shout our praises for the final victory.

Gracious God, Thank You for loving us. Forgive us when our brains become jumbled with earthly things. Help us to have faith and trust in You! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: Today I will trust that God sees the big picture.

Live in Faith! Pastor Liz