Jeremiah 29:11
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.
For two years, we had lived in the small town. I was ready to move on to bigger and better things. My husband had a job interview, and the employer was really positive. We were told that they had tried to hire for years and that they were ecstatic at the option of hiring my husband. We met with a real estate agent, and I began to plan for what seemed like an inevitable move.
Then, the dream changed everything. Here is the dream as I remember it.
An older preacher-type man at the front of a room told this parable. There was once a woman who wanted a child. She prayed and prayed for a child. Finally, she arranged to adopt a child. She began preparing the baby’s room, she bought clothes, and she had everything she needed for the baby’s arrival. Just before the baby was to arrive, she was told that the adoption had fallen through. Subsequently, she learned that she had become unexpectedly pregnant. What should the woman feel? In the dream, I answer,”She should be devastated. After all, she has planned for this baby, she loves this baby, and she is ready for this baby.” The older man answers,”No, she should want the baby that is hers.”
I awoke from the dream and told my husband that we weren’t going anywhere. I was mad and disappointed with God. In His time, however, he showed us the move that was to be ours. God was (of course) right, we really did want what he meant for us not the choice that we had made. So many blessings came from our next move in God’s time — including both of my children. 🙂
Dear God, help us not “adopt” the things that we want but to wait for you to show us what is authentically ours. We want your best for us — not anything that we would substitute in its place. Amen.