Every new year, I ask God to give me a Bible verse to focus on throughout the next 12 months. Many years, the verse has included something about growing in my faith or being strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, the verses include something about trusting in God, about not giving in to fear.
Usually, I start praying about the new verse at the end of the previous year and after several weeks, God points me toward His selected passage. But this year was different.
During the worship service at my church, the week before Christmas, I casually asked God, “Oh, yeah – it’s almost time for the new year’s verse. Please let me know, Lord, which verse to focus on in 2011.”
Immediately, the divine whisper settled in my soul, “Jeremiah 29:11.” I gasped with the intensity of the answer and the promise I knew lived in that passage. At home, I read the verse in every version I had and settled on the English Standard Version.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
I like the idea of God planning my wholeness, as well as his promise for hope and a future. My verse for 2011 is a memo sent by my loving Father, to keep me in hope and remind me that his plans are always for the best. So I march into this new year, holding the hand of my Savior and believing that the things I have learned in 2010 will be a springboard for wholeness in 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment