...across the room for a GREAT PLAN....

"Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say you will not understand. When you see what I do you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them." Acts. 28:26,27

Those were the final words from Paul to the Romans before he left them although those words originally were spoken by the Holy Spirit to Isaiah (Isa.6:9-10). Everywhere Paul went he told people about his experience on the road to Damascus and how God changed his heart. He told them that God had a plan for his life before he was even born. And so it is with each of us. God has a good plan for each of our lives. The thing is, it won't just happen like magic. We have to participate in His plan for us with open ears, eyes that look for Truth, and hearts that are receptive to His instructions to us in His Word.

However, just like the people Paul spoke to who refused to believe the words God gave him to encourage them to believe in Him, even today, in spite of all the access we have to Bibles and solid Biblical teaching so many have deliberately closed their ears, hardened their hearts, and focused their eyes on lies instead of truth. Truth is so easily accessible. Inside the pages of God's Word, the Bible, He introduces Himself. He tells us that He knows the plans He has for us. Plans for good and not disaster, to give us a future and a hope. In Jeremiah we read that the Israelites were going to be away from their home for a long time but that God had good plans for them and would bring them back. Still, I'm sure they must have despaired at times during those years and felt pretty hopeless about being away from home for such a long time.

I read today that our sins often make us feel hopeless and despair and sometimes it could even be someone else's sinful decisions or actions that make us feel this way. We can't control other people but often their sins directly affect us. I think in these circumstances we just have to remember and believe that God has a good plan and future for all of us. If you are confused about what that plan for your life is or how to hear from God personally, I would love to pray for you or converse with you.