Do Your Part!

I like promises. I love them so much that I decided that if I have a son who is born on November 29, I will call him Jeremiah, no one has a choice about it. If you do not understand why give me a moment to get to it.

The Lord is a God of promises: whatever He says, His hand does it. This is why I love Jeremiah 29:11, who says “For I know the plans that I have formed for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for doom, in order to give you a future and hope. ” I thought and prayed about this verse for a few days when The Lord took me back. He reminded me that there are other verses accompanying it. This is not the only verse in the chapter!

In fact, in context, it seems to me that these three verses actually go together: “For I know the plans that I have formed for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for doom, in order to give you a future and hope. You will summon me, and you will go; you will pray to me, and I will answer you.[...] You will seek me, and you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart… ”Jeremiah 29:11 and 13

God makes promises, that's right. But He also asks us to do our part. Jesus offered us salvation for free, it is true, but the Bible also asks us to “work for our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). The same is true for God's promises.

He told the people of Israel that He will allow Himself to be found (Jeremiah 29:14) provided that we seek Him with all our heart (29:13).

I can no longer count the number of times God made promises to me. On the other hand, the number of times I have done everything to let Him act is quite limited. Sometimes He had to insist, ask me, and repeat to me what He wanted from me in order to fulfill His plan.

And by insisting, I mean that I am really stubborn, that He had to repeat the same instructions to me several times, through different means. It's simple: God loves me and He has a plan for my life, the same way He has one for yours. But that doesn't mean that He will do everything and give you a participation medal at the end: it would make no sense.

God wants YOU to be involved in His promises and in His plan, He wants YOU to do your part so that His plan would take place into your life.

Isaiah 1:16 emphasizes the same idea: “Wash yourselves, purify yourselves, Take away from my eyes the wickedness of your actions; Stop doing evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, Protect the oppressed; Defend the orphan, Defend the widow. ”

You are the one who has to get rid of your bad deeds, YOU are the one who has to act. God gives you strength, God gives you His will and His goals, that's the hard part of the job. But He will never force you to do anything against your will.

So I encourage you to do your part so that His promises may be fulfilled.

Have a blessed week :)
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