Who Knows the Future?

Since the beginning of 2019, I have taken the time to rest, recharge and to reflect.  The past few days I have been going through several boxes of memories(cards, letters, articles, etc for the past sixty-five years).  I keep thinking that when I die none of these memories will mean anything to anyone that I know. 

I don't want to throw everything away.  I have read cards from family members, card of encouragement from friends, congratulation cards for a new job, congratulations for graduating from college, birthday cards, wedding cards....   As I read these cards, a smile is on my face as I think about these friends and family members.  I have read some cards from people that I don't even remember.  What is nice is that I did make a difference in their life.

I have come across several spiral notebooks that I have written about what was going on in my life during that particular time.  It seems as if I got a grip on my life in the early 80s.  That was when I was truly soul searching for answers.

One particular verse that I keep reading in my journal is "I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for."  Jeremiah 29:11  Future, that I hoped for?  What was I hoping for?  Happiness, peace, marriage, job, financial wealth....

Jeremiah wrote the book of Jeremiah.  He was called by God.  God told Jeremiah that He knew him before he was even formed in the womb and that God had appointed him as prophet to the nations.(Jeremiah 1:4-5).  Pretty powerful!  So God knows our future.  He knows that we are valuable and that he has purpose just for you and me.

God is the answer.  He is the leader who encouraged me to step out, to believe in the tasks that were in front of me and that He would be with me each step of the way.  He is the hope that we all need.  I keep reminding myself that everything in life will not be perfect.  But once again, define perfect.  To some, perfect is that there will not be any hardship, suffering, pain and/or confusion.  What I have found out in my sixty-five years of life, that it has been the hardships, sufferings, pains and confusions that has made me to mature, to grow and to stand firm in my beliefs.

As I read each card, letter...., I can see God's handwriting as He defines my future.  The five boxes of memories are being put into one or two boxes. In another ten to twenty years, hopefully I will be going through these two boxes and reflecting once again that "it has been a wonderful life".

I am learning not to rush Him or make demands, but to enjoy each day that He has given me and that my life is turning out exactly how it is suppose to.