Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
“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.”
My sister is full of good ideas and great advice. Recently she shared that she was no longer keeping special “things” for special occasions. She said, “Why hide them away? Use them!” Of course our initial reaction is to hide Grandma’s tea pot or Mom’s cookie jar away from danger for fear of breaking it. The joy I get from seeing those things aren’t for the item, but for the precious memories each piece stirs in me. Still, if they stay hidden my children or my grandchildren won’t have a single memory attached to those items and when I am gone they will just be things.
So, I have given them a new purpose. I don’t drink tea, but I can use the pot to hold knives. When I see Grandma’s tea pot, I see her in her kitchen and I smile. I don’t often make cookies, but when I do they sure don’t stick around long enough to make it into a cookie jar! Again, I can use it for kitchen utensils and when I smile at it, Mom is smiling back at me. I once thought I was doing the barn cats a big favor by giving them a bath. Every cat on the farm was miserable. After hearing the exasperated, “Mary Elizabeth!” from my grandma, she gave me a washboard and put me to work washing something that needed washing! The washboard now sits where we use it for reminders and messages.
All of these things started out with one purpose and if I had kept them hidden away, that would have been the end of their story. God designs us for a purpose long before we are ever born. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “’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.’” Wait! Did He say plans? Yes, plans! Plural. Just like a tea pot with a cracked spout, we too have more than one purpose over our life time and sometimes it doesn’t look like the plan we thought it would! Sometimes when things seem especially trying, we turn to the first part of Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to ‘work together’ for the good of those who love Him.” But we forget to finish the verse, “AND are called according to His purpose.” Don’t hide yourself away in a dusty cupboard holding on to what you thought was your only purpose. Boldly sit out on the cupboard and take on a new challenge. Be open to new ideas, new ways to Glorify God, new ways show love, a changing purpose in a changing season.
