“Times, they are a changin’, Frankie. And today is the first day of the rest of our lives. I can’t believe it’s not butter.” –Joey the Rat, Boy Meets World
It’s almost 2015, so times are literally a changin’. It’s almost here…
I got my Yellow Fever shot. Made a ton of on-line purchases. Did the POA thing. Made respective Wal-Mart/Target/Marshall’s/Kroger’s lists for campy items, travel items, vitamins, and forgotten items. I bought Airborne and organic vitamin C drops. Booked my flight (because I have been blessed with the gift of a plane ticket to Launch). Got out all my supplies- backpack, tent, sleeping bag, etc.
And now? I’m sleeping on my sleeping pad in my sleeping bag with my compression pillow and an awkward mixture of hope and fear. I’m just now realizing how afraid I’ve been for the last year.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘Plans for a hope and a future, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.'”
This verse, while for infinite amounts of people is a comfort and a promise from the Lord, was a source of uncertainty for me.
My biggest concern?
What if it would never happen? What if God always has a hope and a future for me? What if there’s never a fulfilled hope? And what if the future never becomes the present? The future will always be the future, these plans will never be actions.
I was self-deprecating and doubtful. I trusted the Lord to care for me, but I stopped trusting Him with what He had told me would happen.
Praise Him for He is good and merciful and faithful. His grace covers my doubt as if it never were.
And now that the future (what God told me a year ago) is almost here, I wish I had known sooner how wrong I was about this verse. I wish I had had faith in what I heard even in the days leading up to the deadline. I wish I hadn’t been so quick to assume things about myself and the Lord’s Plans.
This future and these plans that the Lord has made are present and active all year long.
I can’t doubt anymore. The Lord has been too faithful, too unyielding in this.
And now I can take comfort in Jeremiah 29:11. The Lord always has a hope and a future for me! It doesn’t end in 2015! It’s just the beginning of so much more to come!
This is my future. Faith, grace, and a new perspective.
Times they are a changin’, M Squad. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. I can believe it’s not butter. -Leah, M Squad Meets South America
