Jeremiah 29:11-13 & 31:16

29 ¹¹ 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. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

31 ¹⁶ This is what the Lord says:“Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,”declares the Lord. 

While reading in Jeremiah tonight, these few verses particularly stuck out to me.  As a young adult, I am spending a lot of time seeking God's plans for my life.  It is comforting to know that He has plans, and that they are indeed awesome.  

I love the choice of the word "prosper" which  causes me to look forward to continuous growth in Him.  Often as we grow, we feel pain in some way or another.  The fact that the Lord states that He has plans to prosper and not to harm us is tremendous to me because it helps me to find comfort in even the "growing pains" of following Christ's plans.  If we are seeking Him, everything we experience, from the greatest blessings to the most serious pains, are all part of His plan to prosper us, not to harm us.  I hope this helps some of you to reflect on some of the pains of following Him in a joyful manner.  I know it did for me.

Part of His plan is for us to call to Him, come to Him and pray to Him.  He has a desire to know us, to listen and hear us.  How often do you find yourself seeking someone who really desires to know you and care for your innermost thoughts and feelings?  We each already have that in Him.  How beautiful!  Goodness, we are blessed.  

He promises his availability and our ability to find Him as long as we seek Him with all of our hearts.  He has the desire for our entire heart because He cares that much for His creation.  He wants all of us, every part, parts we are proud of and parts we are ashamed of, because He loves us entirely. Again, beautiful.  As a girl, it is so magnificent to me to be wanted and desired entirely, not just for certain parts of my being.

The verse from Jeremiah 31 is so beautiful, and I'm not sure why I felt the need to tie it back to 29, but God put it on my heart.  Please bear with me as I try to put some reasoning with it.   

In following God's plans for our lives we will indeed face trials, trials which will sometimes produce weeping and tears...quite frequently if you are anything like me.  The command to restrain our voice from weeping and our eyes from tears is just more proof that Christ loves us and wants to soothe our sorrows.  I picture a father drying the tears of his child as he tries to calm the hysterical toddler.  God wants to do the same for us.  He knows that even in following Him and doing His work we will sometimes cry, and he wants us to know that regardless of how difficult this work may be, if we do it with all of our hearts we will indeed receive the reward He has promised us.  This brings me great comfort and joy. I hope it can do the same for you.