Countdown to Christmas – Day 5

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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Jeremiah 29:11-14

God knew Mary and Joseph were breaking. He knew the pressure upon them was much to bear. But the fulfillment of divine plans are always greater than the broken path needed to get there. God knows when we’re breaking. And the enemy of our souls knows just how to break us too. One thing stacks upon another until the weight of it all takes us to our knees and we are weeping on the floor.

God allows us to break into those tiny shattered pieces until our soul resembles the state of our minds. Piece by piece. Shard by shard. We are battered but not beaten. The breaking, the momentum building between our ears like the rhythmic beat of ocean waves pounding the shoreline at tide, is the shattering of our little glass boxes. The boxes we spend too much precious time constructing around ourselves. We think our boxes can protect us from the world for we believe if we build all our plans , they will shield us from a life of inconvenience.

Except we were never promised a convenient life. We are promised that the plans and purposes for our life would not bring harm to our identity as a child of God. We would have hope and a future, prospering in God’s plan. But in order for purpose and plans to be birthed within us we must be obedient to the truth given to us in these scriptures. We must first seek the Lord in all His glory for when we seek Him, we will find Him. He will gather us to His presence, our purpose and plans unfolding as our belief leads us to see God at work within our lives.

Father, help me to seek you first before any plans of my own making. Draw me near to you; hide me under your shield of mercy. Birth within me your greatest plan and purpose in order to bring you glory. In Jesus name, amen.