For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and
not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then
shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will
hearken unto you. 13 And ye
shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your
heart. –Jeremiah 29:11-13 (KJV)
I am just old enough to remember the days of paper
bags at the grocery store. I miss those paper bags. Now
we have these plastic bags that seem to accumulate in the hundreds in
various places in the house. We have a larger bag hanging just
inside the basement door, but it’s always overflowing. Try as
I might, I cannot find enough uses for them. I use them as trash
bags in the bathrooms and for other various odds and ends, yet as I
said, we always have an over abundance of them.
Andrea has a number of cloth bags we often take to
the grocery store, but these are not designed for their system of bagging
and usually it takes longer at the checkout. Some cashiers take
it in stride as if supporting our efforts at being environmentally friendly.
Others appear to be groaning inwardly as they fill our cloth bags with
our groceries. Some people just do not appreciate a good conservationist.
Last week I had an inspiration. I recalled
how at one of the supermarkets they have a large container in which
people can place their unwanted plastic bags. Since we have enough
to fill a dump truck I thought I would relieve us of at least a few.
As we left for the store, I brought along one of our large plastic bags
which was tightly filled with these little nuisances. Andrea waited
patiently by the store entrance as I placed the bags in the receptacle.
I glanced over and saw she had a look on her face that said, “What
are you doing?” (I’ve seen that look many times). It was
then I realized I was taking the bags out of the larger one when I could
have just thrown in the entire bag. I quickly recovered, threw
in the bag, and headed into the store. Andrea’s only comment
was, “I wondered when you’d figure that out.” I had no reply
as none was needed.
I cannot help but think that countless people view
their lives like those grocery bags; they are filled to overflowing,
yet feel useless and empty. A relationship with Jesus Christ fills
our lives with the blessings of God. As the Lord has promised
in His Word, He has plans for us involving peace, joy, and hope.
The Lord’s desire is for our lives to be filled to overflowing with
the abundance of His grace and blessings. Understand these blessings
can take all sorts of shapes and come in the most humble wrappings.
Through faith in Christ we learn the joy of having the Lord with us
in the dark times of life, and we discover the true power of faith in
the trials we face. We are then empowered to “Count it all joy
when we face diverse temptations (trials)” (James 1:2).
God has a plan for your life, and it’s all good.
Believe it and trust in Him.
God bless you today.
