Jesus Loves Me!

I'm thinking about many things this morning. Friends who are seeing their "babies" off to college soon, others watching their children go through illness and still others who are dealing with not being able to do what they used to because of those illnesses or their own aging. It sounds like a pretty depressing morning but it's really not. You see, as I'm sitting here praying for all my wonderful friends, God reminded me of something I spoke to a group just last week. While it didn't seem to have the effect I was hoping for last week it sure is sounding a gong in my spirit this morning!

I've heard Jeremiah 29:11 quoted many times, often at high school or college graduation receptions. I'm sure you could recite it today: "For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Then comes verse 12: "Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart." This sounds like - and is - a wonderful verse to launch that young adult off into an exciting life of adventure but that was not the context those verses were written in.

When God spoke those words to Jeremiah they were directed towards the elders, priests and prophets of Jerusalem who had been carried away captive to a foreign land. This word was spoken to all the people who had once experienced the fullness of freedom. They were now held captive by an enemy that had been prophesied for years but yet still came in with an unexpected speed and totality. Their heads were still reeling from the fact that plentiful and busy aren't that far away from lack and loneliness. They were debating about why they could not go back to where they once were. They were wondering if there was a way to break free from the limitations and restrictions that had, seemingly suddenly, been placed upon them. This was a new season for them and they weren't quite sure how to handle it.

Even though we are still participating in life, some of us are much more active in it than others. For some, the days have slowed to a stand-still while the months rush by at blinding speed. For others, life has become a series of doctors trips and hospital visits. It seems these people have stepped from the busyness of ordinary life into their "today" in one long stride and now they're left wondering what they're supposed to do when their "doer" feels like it's almost done out. Oh, they can still get lost in their busyness most days but on those days when their doer is done before it ever gets started they know this is a new season for them as well. So, with that in mind, I recite these same verses to you today.

God knows the thoughts, the plans, He has for you. He still has those thoughts and plans written out for you and He fully expects you to complete them. He is the one who has your days numbered and planned out and He wants you to take this season to call upon Him, pray to Him, seek Him AND tarry for Him. Even though at times you feel like a captive in your own body you are in a unique position to be totally free...and God has promised He will listen to you! Is it a small thing or to be taken lightly that you often feel so far removed from life itself? Absolutely not! But neither is it a small thing, nor to be taken lightly, that you now can be in the true position of a prayer warrior. The times of walking through these problems have armed you well. You can pray against things others will face because you have been there. You can pray protection, blessing and healing from a totally different perspective because you have been to those prisons of intimidation, fear and sickness. Your experiences can link with the Holy Spirit and carry your prayers to the ears of God and you can find Him for me, often when I can not find Him for myself!

If you're just beginning to walk in the winter season of your life don't give up, there are people praying you through! If you're one of the blessed ones that are enjoying those spring seasons now, remember to carry your brothers and sisters needs to our Heavenly Father's throne room for them during their winter. Keep them warm with your covering of prayer and intercession. We will never know this side of eternity what effect our prayers have on each other but I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty they have carried, and will continue to carry, many souls across the divide and into the eternal arms of Christ!

We've often confined to children's church the old song "Jesus Loves Me" but that last stanza speaks of faithfulness and trust. It says "Jesus loves me! He will stay close beside me all the way. Thou hast bled and died for me. I will henceforth live for Thee."

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