Tuesday, October 30

Evening lesson

Isaiah 45:7 (NIV) "I form the light and create the darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I,the Lord, do all these things."

This ties into the reference found in Jeremiah, that most of us can recite verbatium, about plans to prosper us and not harm us..............

Jeremiah 29:11-13(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. Then you will call upon Me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."

The verses immediately following verse 11 aren't often quoted in this 'famous' promise, but I think they should be. It is a new truth for us to realize. Why God has the plans He has for us. To drive us back to relationship, to give us a reason to call upon and seek our Father's face.

Don't we do that with our earthly fathers? We look to the promises made by our fathers to be fulfilled, resting in the assurance that they have nothing but the best intended for us. The greatest tragedy that can take place, I think, is the corruption or loss of that trust between a father and their child(ren).

Last night, my youngest daughter who has been sick, recalled a promise I had made to her that wasn't fulfilled. She wasn't too accepting of the demands of time that prevented it, both on her part and on mine, but looked to me as the deliverer of the promise --no matter how many other people were involved. It was her dad who made the promise, her dad who can move heaven and earth to make sure to deliver (at least in my daughter's eyes). And it was designed, this promise made, to bring us together, to spend some time one-on-one with the youngest and least demanding child in the house. The one who is most like me.

She wanted some time, to spend as a daughter beloved by her father, not challenged by the demands of school, the world, home, her family, or her society. Just to be a daughter, to take substance from the knowledge that she was loved and cared for. To know that she had her father's heart.

And I found myself in the position that Isaiah brings to light in chapter 45, to bring prosperity or disaster into my daughter's world. To respond to that need of connection with a heart full of love and joy, or to deny the reality of her need and send a notice of rejection to her.

So I spent time with my youngest last night, telling her in word and deed that she has always my attention, my love, and my joy. That she is a beloved daughter, one of three children, unique in herself and vital to the family.

And so, plant the seed again and watch it grow....the seed that my daughter knows that she can turn to her father, ask him for a heartfelt need and know he will respond.

And I rejoiced that I could experience a bit of my Heavenly Father's love for me in that relationship with my daughter.

He has given me a promise that if I turn to Him and ask, He will reveal His beautiful plans for me.....plans for prosperity.......in relationship with Him.