Living Life on Both Ends of the Spectrum

As I try to process my list of things-to-do today I am acutely aware that I am experiencing “Life.” It’s not that everything is falling apart and I’m barely hanging on by a thread. It’s not that things are gloriously and joyfully grand. It’s that there is SO much! There is so much to do, finish, accomplish. There is so much to be concerned about, prayed over, considered. There is so much to be thankful for, praise God for, relish. I am a bundle of tears and laughter, pleading and praising. I have a list of things to accomplish and I have quiet moments of reflection. I am grateful and needy. I am content and creating a list of wishes. I am a mess and I am at peace. My life is currently being experienced on both ends of the spectrum.

And I admit it has me befuddled and bamboozled.

I don’t necessarily want to change things, because the experiences that are hard have such amazing threads of hope and God’s mercy. Perhaps God is blessing me with life from the positive spectrum so that I  am better equipped to handle the other. Perhaps this is just how life really is and I have been blessed with supernatural spiritual awareness.

I have been reading in the book of Jeremiah found in the Old Testament. The book of Jeremiah has a lot of “Life” in it. There are elements from both ends of the spectrum even though the story being told is pretty harsh. In the 29th chapter of Jeremiah are some very familiar verses:

“(v. 11) For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. (v. 12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. (v. 13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

In the midst of “Life” this is what I see in these verses:
* God knows His plan(s). He is not making it up as He goes along.
* God’s plans are always for my best and it doesn’t say anything about my ease and comfort.
* God’s plans give me a future, lead me to Hope. And I need me some hope!
* God’s plans lead me to call upon Him, to come to Him, to pray to Him.
* God hears me! (Can I hear a Hallelujah!)
* God’s plans lead me to seek Him, which is more than calling to Him. Seeking leads to finding, which causes discovery, learning, knowing.
* God can ALWAYS be found when I seek with all my heart.

My heart is encouraged because I would say I am safely ensconced in God’s plans.  My days may be filled with all that “Life” can qive me, AND I am comforted with Hope, reassured that God hears me, and thrilling at the wonders I am discovering about My God.

Life is hard, and Life is good.  All praise to the One I am seeking.