My Favorite Verse

My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11.  It brings me lots of strength and comfort.  God speaks to me through this verse in more ways than you can imagine.  I've never been one to question God and his wisdom but at the time I first really studied this verse, I was getting to a place where I was starting to.  Charles had just lost his job with the cable group, I was getting ready to have my 3rd neck surgery due to hardware issues (loose screws and slipping plates) and lack of fusion from the prior fusion.  I was just overwhelmed and feeling really down and didn't understand why I had to go through all of this... again no less.  Was I missing a lesson?  Was I supposed to have gotten something that I hadn't gotten yet?

I think I stumbled upon this verse in a daily devotional in the NIV, and if you're not familiar with it allow me to share:  "¹¹ 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."  That made me feel better, a lot better.

Maybe to some people it would have been, oh yeah cool, but not me.  These words just jumped off the page.  It was as if God was saying to me, Hello!  Everything you've dealt with in your life?  All that bad stuff, all the abuse and the sinful living, and then bringing you and Charles together and you finally turning to me and welcoming me back into your heart?  I knew all of it was going to happen.  I wish you hadn't gone off on your own for a while, but it's okay.  It was part of my glorious plan for you as you wouldn't have been strong enough had you not gone through all of that.  I was there for you the whole time, making sure nothing would ever cross the point of no return, making sure that you could survive all of your injuries and become a stronger woman for it.  Because I have huge plans for you  and there isn't going to be any more bad stuff as long as you stick with me and focus on me.  You need to know that you have a wonderful future ahead of you.  So when you feel down, or when the enemy tries to really bum you out with his lies, just remember all the cool stuff ahead of you.  That was the first time I read it, and I thought oh if I had only known that before!!  How different my life would have been!

I love it when God totally speaks to me through a verse.  Not long after that, I attended a dinner for the ladies at church.  I was going to sit at one table but then some girls I know from bible study waved me over to sit with them as it was my first outing after my 3rd neck surgery and they wanted to know how I was doing,etc.  The night before when they were setting up the room, the prayer committee prayed individually at each chair and left a book mark with a bible verse and what do you know, mine was Jeremiah 29:11.  At first I thought, well how cool, I love that verse.  Then I realized that each of us had a different verse, and it was just so surreal.  I felt then and I still feel now that God shared his Word directly to me through this event.  We were all gathered for a different reason, but wow, was I there for a Word!!

One of my favorite things to do is compare verses in different versions of the bible.  Jeremiah 29:11 is pretty much the same  in almost all of them, but the Message even puts a greater spin on things, especially if you are into Eschatology like I am.  It goes like this:  "^10-11This is God's Word on the subject: "As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."  Does this not have rapture written all over it??  I love it, I love the promise of it, I love knowing he is going to come get all of his brothers and sisters and bring us to heaven before Satan is unleashed on the earth.  How incredibly awesome!!  It just means so much more from that point of view.

Of course, these are just my opinions and interpretations, but hey, it's my blog :)  Disclaimer added and noted.  If you're a man, pay no attention to my rants, lol!  Unless of course there have been many interpretations done by famous scholars.  In that case, pay attention beloved!