"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, to give you a future and a hope -- plans to prosper you and not to harm you." --Jeremiah
My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last week. As part of the celebration, we opened a time capsule we had sealed 10 years earlier. Inside the capsule were newspaper clippings, product wrappers, wedding momentos, photos of our first days together, and of course lots of wonderful memories. But what I think we enjoyed the most was our "letters to the future." These were not really letters per se, but more like wish lists--what each of us dreamed for our future. I think we were both surprised to look back at how meager our wildest dreams now seemed, and how we'd not only met, but surpassed them. Or how we'd hoped for one thing, while something much different but better had come to pass. As we sat reading them, we would each remark "That's all we wanted?" or "Ha! If we'd only known what was in store!" Still on other subjects, it was more like "We wanted what? -- well, that wouldn't have been any good. Glad God didn't listen to us on that one!"
All I wanted was to be a mother of two by the time I opened the capsule. Well, of course I am now, and I suppose God could have just as easily granted that wish in the first years of our marriage, but what a journey we would have missed! My immature mind couldn't have imagined how much I'd cherish the memories made in those years when it was just us, when we prayed for a baby, but the time had not yet come. Or how we would grow through tragedy and tears, and what a gift these children would be when they finally arrived. I could go on, but suffice it to say our plans were far inferior to God's.
It all leads me to the conclusion that all we ever need pray is for God's will. We have such tunnel vision, such limited perspective of our own needs! Surely the Lord is happy to entertain our wish list, and its good for us to make our hearts desires known, but we should ultimately acknowledge and understand that only He knows what is best. Beyond that, we should always trust His heart, even when we can't trace his hand. We are his beloved children after all, and he KNOWS the plans he has for us, plans far above and beyond any we could make, plans to prosper us, and not to harm us.
