Journal Entry ~ 03/1/19

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
—Jeremiah 29:11

God knows our trials, He knows our struggles intimately. In fact, He has allowed each one of them into our lives intentionally - He even chooses to allow multiple trials into our lives at the same time. And while it may not make sense to us in the moment, we can have confidence that He has a purpose for every single moment of heartache He has allowed. 

It is "for" those struggles, or "because" of those struggles that we can know He has has a plan. In other words, it is in or through those trials that His plan will come to pass. It is in those trials that we find the will of God. 

God does not promise His plan for us will be not be hard or long suffering, but He does promise it will be good. And the goodness of the Lord IS His will for us - His will is to chasten our hearts until we are more and more like Him. 

I love the quote my pastor friend posted the other day: “I think that it is through grief that we carve depth into our souls and create space to be filled with comfort from and for one another. And that is profoundly beautiful.” I think this perfectly captures God's will for us. He created us to be relational beings - to love and to care for one another as deeply as He cares for us. But sin caused our hearts to turn inward, to prioritize ourselves above others. It is only through trials that our compassion and understanding for others grow and our hearts are transformed. Without those trials, we remain focused primarily on ourselves. 

When we shift our perspective of our trials to His perspective, we can see the beauty even in our tragedies, and there we can find true joy. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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