Your standard "graduation, pivotal point in life go-to verse.", right? But this verse has played again and again in my mind a lot lately, and I don't think by accident. It's time. The time that everyone in my department eagerly awaits and dreads all at once...grad school notification time. The schools wrap up their decision-making and send one of three e-mails. "Yes", "No", or "We're not so sure. Here's our wait list!" I was not invited to the University of Akron's Interview Day (which is their form of "we think we want you, we just want to be sure"), so that's more or less a "No". Which leaves 3 more schools: Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, and Indiana State. 3 is not a large number.
So this verse resonates, and I probably don't even have to write it here you've heard it enough times, but God has really been breaking it apart and feeding it to me in bite-sized chunks, and it's taken on some new and fresh meaning to me.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord...." : I know your plans. I know them. So you don't need to right now, Rachel. I know them and that's what matters. Nothing that's happening right now is taking Me by surprise. I'm not guessing at what's coming next, I know. I knew it long before you were ever alive. They are My plans for you, and My plans are flawless. Every. single. time.
"Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you": I've brought you this far. I've provided again and again and AGAIN for you to not only know My power,but because I love you, and I'm not going to leave you out to dry.
"Plans to give you hope and a future" : I'm not just giving you day by day, I'm giving you a future! And it's a future you should be and can be hopeful about! My plans for you are so much bigger and more wonderful than you could ever begin to imagine, let alone ones you could make for yourself. Get excited! I've got things not only right now, for this one step, but for every single step that's coming. Just you wait and see!
I know that God is faithful. And I know that something will eventually happen. Knowing and believing are two different things. The advice I would give myself if I were outside looking in...
But I continue to worry, and I continue to cry out, and I continue to control things that are out of my control (and with good reason!). I was made for more than worry and doubt that I will have a useless degree come May 11 and will be left stranded in more ways than 1. Yet daily, I take up that burden, and daily I loose focus of the fact that this is already taken care of, that I am taken care of. By the God of the Universe, no less! Oh, human nature...
