“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.  And I will be found of you saith the Lord and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places wihther I have driven you saith the Lord and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.”  Jeremiah 29:11-13

There was a question presented in a group discussion today about our free will and God’s knowledge of the future.  Kind of a “predestination “ question , I suppose.  He had asked if any of us had ever questioned as to why God would even create Adam and Eve if he knew they were going to sin.  I have had this question posed to many times here lately from other Christians who are either out of God’s will or simply just desperately going through battles they can’t  explain; and, to tell you the truth, it is not that easy of a question to debate because it is one that the answer to boils down to having FAITH!  Faith in Him, His wisdom, His plans, His thoughts, His forgiveness, His power and His might!!   Faith is the key to accepting ALL of His Word and without accepting ALL of it; you are only using bits and pieces of life’s map.

This is a question to all of you parents…You wanted your children right? You love and need them in your life…couldn’t imagine your life without them I presume?  But, when they were little tots and they fell or hurt themselves, did they look at you and say “Mommy, why did you do that?” of course not… they just looked up with trusting eyes and said..”make it better”.  And YOU chose to create THEM.  You wanted proof that you exist, that you matter in this world….that you won’t leave this earth without knowing such love.  Now, imagine that love on a much grander scale.  How would you feel if they started blaming you for every hurt, problem, fear, mistake or trial that they came across in life?  It would devastate you wouldn’t it?    When another friend of mine brought that valid point into the conversation, I really thought about it.  I know when I have blamed my own mother for something we disagreed on, it has hurt her and put distance between us that had to be repaired.  So, when I fail to see that God created me out of sheer love and desire for my praise … I am saddened that I am not living up to my purpose.  To encourage others, be faithful to my friends and family always with a listening ear, forgiving heart and open mind… I am not doing what I was created to do.  Because when we love one another and lift each other up…we ARE praising Him.  We are giving notice to His most prized creation… US!  And, He inhabits the praises of His people!!  (PS. 22:3)

                    

                When times get tough, when illness strikes or trauma of any kind befalls us or our family and friends; we want to blame Him and overlook the fact that it is only by His grace that we are here to experience EVERY single facet of this existence.  So often, we want to praise Him and believe in Him when things are only going our way.  When bad things happen, they just happen.  People are in this world and people are flawed and full of sin.    Satan roams this earth seeking who can destroy and totally devour. (I Pet. 5:8)  But people BE of GOOD cheer!  For He that is within US is greater that he that is within the World!! (Jn 16:33)    God does know our futures, He has plans for His children… Jeremiah 29:11  Plans to prosper us, Plans to lead us out of sin’s captivity. Plans to bring us peace!  How could we NOT want that?