Thoughts of Peace

Jeremiah 29:11-13

  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

   Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

   And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

I have thought about this scripture a lot lately.  I have been pondering on how the Lord thinks of us.  He wants us to have peace.  He wants us to have joy.  He wants us to pray to Him and seek Him.  He wants us to know and really understand that we are loved.  

I have some children who don't believe the way that I do.  I have learned that my job is to love them anyway.  To wait for them.  To find them.  To be happy for them.  To accept them.  I know that if I can love those kids as much as I do in all my imperfectness, than our Heavenly Father, who is so much more perfect than I am, loves them even more.  He wants each of us to return to Him.  He waits to welcome us home.  He has promised that He is listening to our prayers.  He knows our hearts, and we WILL find Him.  

Some people believe that their can't be a God because bad things happen to them.  I have learned that bad things happen for mostly three reasons.  

1.  It is a part of life.  We are here to experience everything, and that includes trials.

2.  It is because of our own sins.  Every single sin has consequences, and although the Lord forgives us our sins when we repent, He doesn't take away the consequences of the sin.  Some things we just have to endure because of our mistakes.

3.  It is because of someone else's sin.  Sometimes, the choices others make can hurt us.  It can cause us physical or emotional damage.  It can leave us gasping for breath and unable to understand "why".  

In His love, the Lord gives us blessings even in the pain and tribulations of life.  He teaches us things that we need to know.  We learn to be more compassionate and loving.  We learn to have joy.  We learn to endure.  We learn kindness and love.  As we deal with consequences, we also learn forgiveness, not only for others, but for ourselves.  We learn to trust that the Lord will judge perfectly, each one of our hearts.  We learn to trust in His Mercy and His Justice. 

We learn to find Him.