Threads of all colors. Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash.
For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. -Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)
I recently turned 50, which was not only interesting because of my biological age, but because the same year also marked my 10th birthday as a believer. My eyes were finally opened at the age of 40, and I accepted Jesus’ Great Commission to spread the Good News to all the corners of the earth, which included this blog. In this way, I was a conduit in the agency of carrying His light to the dark places on this earth–and those dark places are everywhere!
As you may already know, each time you read through the Bible, it can speak to you and your circumstances in ways you never realized before. And this time, at this age, I can see how the reading above applies to my life in this day and age, and I want to share that here.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, my life has been drained of color early on through a traumatic childhood, and that gray lens persists to this day. But since Jesus pulled the wool off my eyes in 2013, I continue to learn to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), because my depressed mind is the product of people, not of God.
And while the original context of the verse above applies to the prophet Jeremiah addressing the Israelites in exile under Nebuchanezzar, who very understandably could see no hope in their circumstances, I can see the same concept at the beginning of my fifth decade–and first decade as a believer.
Every single experience, interaction, gain, loss, trauma, celebration, sadness, and joy, all fall under God’s larger plan for our lives which we cannot ever see from His perspective. We are just following one particular thread of our timeline in God’s supermassive tapestry, as Corrie ten Boom so eloquently described it. He truly is using all things for the good of His children (Romans 8:28).
Despite being hobbled and emotionally blinded at a very young age, and living till age 40 without Jesus, I can look back with just the tiniest grain of His perspective and understand that I am typing this now–10 years later–because He carried me through all of it. And I can see that He does indeed have good plans for me, and that I will continue to be His instrument and agent of light. I won’t be perfect at it, but know that He will be there every step of the way, lighting the path, and always waiting if I stumble.
If you are reading this, I hope you can see how He is certainly doing the same with the whole of your life, using all things for a larger plan for good that you may not yet see. Keep the faith, fellow believer, and know that your biological age doesn’t matter when you’re a child of God.
Today’s soundtrack
Switchfoot’s “Meant To Live” reminds us we’re here for a far greater purpose.
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