HOPE AND A FUTURE (Turning Mourning Into Dancing)

HOPE AND A FUTURE (Page 12)

                 Jeremiah 29:11

Whatever you are going through, whatever situations life brings your way, God has preordained a bright future for you. What matters is that you and God are on the same page. Life is uncertain and complex. Things don’t always line up in your favor, but God can help you turn your losses into gains.

Life’s uncertainties are not there to trip you up or to defeat you. If you love God and are living to please him, God will turn your troubles into victories. God steps in to protect what is His and makes sure what you were created for will be accomplished. Your future is God’s future. Your success reflects on God. Therefore, you must strive to discover God’s purpose for your life.

Your future is already settled in heaven. Your goal is to make sure the kingdom work God has called you to do is carried out on earth. Your mission on earth, as Jesus puts it, is to be about your Father’s business. When you are about your Father’s business, your Father is about your business. Why? Because they are

two-sides of the same coin.

In the New Testament, Paul says, “God works all things together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28 NIV). Jeremiah’s words in the OT give comfort, knowing that

God intends to bring blessings to His covenant people through both judgment and salvation, the two-sides of the same coin. “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’” (Jer. 29:11 NIV).

God created you and me to do His kingdom work on earth. We are God’s hands, feet, and voice. We are not just the King’s kids, we are the King’s workmanship, created to do good works. Followers of Jesus have been given the ministry task of sharing in God’s kingdom work on earth, which God has predestined in heaven for us to do. Jesus even includes this important fact in the prayer he taught his disciples: “May your kingdom come and what you want be done, hereon earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 NCV).

Therefore, you can work through your grief and loss with hope because God has a plan for your future. God’s plans are never to harm or hurt you. God’s plans are “to prosper...and to give you hope and a future.” Stay in the lane God has for you and see what God will do in and through you. Now that should make you want to dance!