HOPE and a FUTURE :)

This has been one of those weeks where the same words have been coming to me from all angles.  A book, an email, a word from a friend.  And I see relevance all around me.  People who are going through things and need to hear this:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  ~Jeremiah 29:11 KJV

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 NIV

I like both of these versions, even though they essentially say the same thing.  He thinks about us and He has plans for us.  Those thoughts and plans are full of peace....not of bad things, for prosperity....not harm.  He wants us to know that there will be a happy ending....He wants to give us hope and a future.  That's His plan.

When life gets hard, I tend to question God.  I wonder why He is letting me or someone I love go through something difficult and painful.  If He wants good for us, why the pain?  Why not protect us from it?  I know people have been asking that ever since the start of the world...and I don't pretend to know the answer...but there is something that I believe can sometimes be an answer to those questions.  We are being pruned.

Vineyards have to be tended to.  They don't just produce huge amounts of grapes without help.  The vines grow very fast and the leaves get thick and sometimes not enough sunlight or nutrients reach the grapes.  The person who tends the vineyard has to sometimes cut off perfectly healthy branches....just to prompt more growth...more fruit...bigger grapes. 

God tends to us like we tend to our children....and like the Vinedresser tends to his grapes.  Just like there are hard lessons our children will have to learn, there are hard ones for us to learn too.  Sometimes the experiences and lessons are painful, but they lead to growth...and shape us into better people.  Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in life that we lose sight of the direction we were headed.  Maybe we've got too much on our plate....too many irons in the fire...too much going on.  None of it is bad....it just saps the energy and life out of us.  Sometimes our focus needs readjusted.  I believe that God's father's heart is much like our heart toward our own kids.  He wants us to grow....to develop into the people He created us to be.  Just like we can see our childrens' potential, He can see ours.  He KNOWS ours.  And being the father that he is, He's going to help us get there.  Sometimes that means removing something from our lives that we thought we needed...or taking away a dead relationship...or weeding out some of the things that clutter our lives.  Sometimes there seems to be no need or reason at the time.  And all we see is pain.  But God has a plan.  And we are in it.  And everything we go through....all the pruning...feeling assaulted by our circumstances....eventually will end in good.  He wants us to have hope....and a future full of good things.  Don't be afraid of the shears....and don't fight against the pruning.  You are becoming the best YOU you can be.  :)