May 18

God Has Promised Only Good

 
            "'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) It is so easy to forget this and many other promises from our Lord Master concerning the good He has vowed repeatedly for us in our lives. It is easy to forget when our faith weakens – as our frail, human patience often wanes, even in a land of plenty where no one is ever hungry and we have only known security. It is easy to forget the bounty of a Perfect Lord when our patience grows thinner day by day. It is the lot of fallen man. The more we have, the more we want – and we want it all right now.

            Yet in good times, and especially in the darkest of times, regardless of the situations and circumstances we find ourselves in, the promises of God stand above them all. Our circumstances constantly shift, and we have literally no idea what the next minute or hour will hold. We are truly powerless to change even a single sliver of time that lies ahead, regardless of how confident we are in our own abilities. Jesus spoke of this when He said, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:27) But God's state of Being is as totally different from ours as is night from day. He does control time. Our Great King is the Lord of all circumstances, of day and of night, and He is the Creator of everyone's life and destiny. It was He Who planned and wove the tapestry of our life together. And He has given us a hint of what He has already planned for each of us. He has promised us only good. He assured us in Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

We may open our heart valve and allow the spiritual fruit of patience to freely flow through us into the lives of everyone else we come into contact with. For it is a patience based on God's perfect assurance that all things and circumstances, no matter what, He will always control to become our blessing! For you see, on this eventide, as we make our way to the Creator of the heavens and the Earth, we are making haste to the feet of the One Who gave up Himself for us out of a depth of love that cannot even be grasped by the human mind. We cast our very lives at His feet – our temporal lives and our eternal lives are His to command. He has promised our lives are His to bless, to keep, and to safeguard. It is here that we discover the very Wellspring of our patience that has no end at all. For "It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forever!" (Psalm 133:3)