Are you at your wits end? Do you ever think, “What do I do with my life?”, “I feel so defeated!”, and “Is it going to get any better?”
Can you relate to any of these analogies?
- Sometimes you’ve got to be knocked down before you can get back up.
- Sometimes you’ve got to be immensely hungry before you can appreciate the food presented to you.
- Success after failure tastes sweeter.
- It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. ~ Epictetus.
- Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit. ~ Napoleon Hill
- Learning from mistakes is the way forward.
I have fallen, but enemy, don’t laugh at me! I will get up again. I sit in darkness now, but the Lord will be a light for me. Micah 7:8
Oh friend, when I read my verse for today: Jeremiah 33:2-3 I first thought about the magnificent power of our Creator, then a few recent conversations I’ve had regarding “What do I do with my life?”, “I feel so defeated!”, and “Is it going to get any better?”, and finally an urge to read more of Jeremiah 33 came over me. So, I opened those beautiful God-breathed pages and got busy underlining, circling, double-underlining, and putting rectangles around words that jumped at me regarding what God can and will do. Y’all, I got giddy and refreshed, and filled with hope. The Lord is good! His faithful love endures forever!
I want to encourage you to do the same. If you don’t have a bible, please either print this and use the scripture provided at the bottom of this devotional or grab a pen and paper and write these words down and get busy marking. Sure, you’ll read that feeling destroyed and/or abandoned isn’t anything new, but hold on…
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Wherever you are in your life or thoughts (thoughts…now there’s a devotional in that! Be careful. Satan loves to get in your thoughts. Focus on God.), I pray that you will grasp on to the words what God will do when you ask Him.
Yes, there are seasons of feeling like a failure or the multitude of times you are fearful of the unknowns in life, but NEVER GIVE UP! That season won’t last forever. Fix your eyes on Jesus, call out to Him, talk to God, and be confident that He is working in and on and for you.
I pray blessings over you. May you take comfort in what God says He will do…heal, restore, cleanse, and forgive. Get back up and let the Lord be the light for you. And when you do (and you will), you will bring joy, glory, and honor to The One who is with you always.
Promises of Peace and Prosperity
33 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lord gave him this second message: 2 “This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord: 3 Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. 4 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: You have torn down the houses of this city and even the king’s palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps and swords of the enemy. 5 You expect to fight the Babylonians, but the men of this city are already as good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my terrible anger. I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness.
6 “Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns. 8 I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. 9 Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.
10 “This is what the Lord says: You have said, ‘This is a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.’ Yet in the empty streets of Jerusalem and Judah’s other towns, there will be heard once more 11 the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord. They will sing,
‘Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
for the Lord is good.
His faithful love endures forever!’
For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the Lord.
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie