Sit Back and Relax

Jeremiah 29:11 

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. 

A new year, a fresh start...perhaps a new attitude? I believe many Christians would list Jeremiah 29:11 among their favorites and no doubt this is a very hopeful verse. I have seen it on plaques, signs, etc. It is a verse that tells us we have a God that we can trust – Amen. 

There is more to consider, if you look at verse 10 the Lord says after 70 years He will fulfill His promise. So there is thing called God’s timing and don’t get me wrong here, I believe it is also His perfect timing. But, if we truly believe we have a God that we can trust there will be times when we must wait, we must experience ups and downs, we must persevere and to me that is a key aspect of trusting God. 

And during these periods of time where we have to trust God what is our attitude? Should we be angry, should we be negative or should we be confident and joyful? I know this is hard to do at times and Lord knows when it comes to this I slip – I forget – maybe I find it easier to trust myself? Ouch! But, if we can truly center and focus on Jesus and all He has done – His finished work, His love for each of us, then perhaps we can get through life with a humble confidence, trusting God and His plans for us. 

I recently had the opportunity to travel on a particular airline and have you noticed one of the requirements of a flight crew these days is comedy? Anyway, the Captain comes on and welcomes us aboard his flight, he tells us the weather conditions, the temperatures and the time we can expect to arrive. He concludes by telling us that we can either sit back and enjoy the flight or we can lean forward, tense up and be miserable. Everyone laughed, but that stuck with me. 

Couldn’t the same be said about our Christian walk? Most days shouldn’t we be humbly confident, trusting, joyful people. I know it will be tough and there are circumstances where we won’t always just be happy smiling people, but in general as we trudge through life may we all sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. 

Grace and Peace!