"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." --Jeremiah 29:11
Jeremiah 29:11 is an often quoted Bible verse. You'll find it on key chains, pens, t-shirts and lots of other Christian gifts. But, what exactly does God mean by the "expected end"? God did not send his son to die for our sins so that we can live any way we want. We are saved by the blood of Jesus from our sins, not for sin. We are freed from sin, not free to sin. So God's expected end for us is to live for him to be his servant, to rejoice in our salvation, and to be freed from the bondage of sin.
Sometimes we fall from God's plan that leads to our "expected end and it may feel like we have completely and totally lost our way. We may feel like we even if we could make our way back to the straight and narrow path that Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:14, that it would still be too little, too late. But God tells us exactly what to do when we fall from his path:
"Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you." --Jeremiah 29:12
Call upon him! Pray to him! And he will "hearken" to you! Now, you're asking, "Well, what does that mean?" We've heard the word "heark" or "hearken" before, as in Hark! The herald angels sing. Right? If you're like me you've probably never even thought about what exactly those angels are saying. "Heark/hark" or "hearken" means to listen, to give attention to. So, Jeremiah 29:12 tells us that when we call upon God and pray to him, he will listen to us. He will give us his attention. We have all probably at one point or another wanted someone's attention so bad, so desperately, and been disappointed when we didn't receive it. How wonderful is it that the creator of the whole universe will give us his attention if we call upon him.
God goes on to tell us to seek him, and when we seek him with all our heart, we will find him. There are lots of things you can look for in this life and never find, but God is not one of those. If we seek God with our whole heart, we will find him. He's already promised us over and over again not to forsake ("abandon" or "disown" or "reject") us (Deuteronomy 4:31, Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, 1 Samuel 12:22, 1 Kings 6:13, Psalm 9:10, Hebrews 13:5 -- just to name a few).And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." --Jeremiah 29:13
So, if you have fallen from God's expected path, call upon him, and he will listen. Seek him with your whole heart, and you will find him.
