This year is to be a year of change. On the outside things look fairly settled. My husband and I work and strive to provide a home for our family while paying off bills and saving for retirement. My son is working part time while he pursues a career in writing. My son-in-law is settled in his disability and plans for the future as he sees how this new medication will effect his MS. My daughter is settled into a full time job that while it is a very long commute is a blessing. My youngest is still looking for a job and working on her music trying to find what it is that God wants her to do.
And then I found the focus for the year in my devotions. It comes from the unlikely book of Jeremiah and not from my favorite passage in Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 46:27-28 “But you, dear Jacob my servant, you have nothing to fear. Israel, there’s no need to worry.
Look up! I’ll save you from that far country, I’ll get your children out of the land of exile. Things are going to be normal again for Jacob, safe and secure, smooth sailing. Yes, dear Jacob my servant, you have nothing to fear.
Depend on it, I’m on your side. I’ll finish off all the godless nations among which I’ve scattered you, But I won’t finish you off. I have more work left to do on you. I’ll punish you, but fairly. No, I’m not finished with you yet.”
The first thing to note is that I have nothing to fear. There is no need to worry. My time and energy will be better spent in praying for my family. My mind should center around doing what God has set before me. And I will have time to do all that I need to do.
Please God, help me to spend my energy on praising you and doing what you have for me to do. Send me forward and organize my tasks and my time to accomplish your works in my life.
Secondly, my family will return from the land of exile, from that far country where they have been. God will provide a way for each member of my family to rejoin the family of God and our family in their hearts. They will be blessed this year in ways that were thought no longer possible. Joy and love will ring through our home. Life will become more integrated with each other and with our God. God’s spirit of love and healing will fill our home.
Thank you God for this promise and we will hold you to it. You promised that we would come home to you completely and fully. We only need to put our trust in you, in your grace and your bounty. You long to fill us with your peace. You long to hold us in your hands and your heart. You want to keep us secure in your haven of rest. Thank you for your love and for bringing that to us this year.
Thank you God that you are on our side. You have more work left to do on us. You are not finished with us yet. We are yours. Help us to open our wills to your word. Help us to open our hearts to your love. We long to trust you with our whole lives. We long to believe that you will keep us safe and secure. We are trusting in you that you will provide for us everything that we need for this next year. And at the end of the year we will praise you for the journey of change you have brought us through.
