Usually when I get a phone call from a stranger who is asking spiritual questions it will end up with asking for money. I do not mean to sound cynical, but that is how things usually happen. Not this time. This time she started with question that I had difficulty understanding. She seemed incoherent and confused. She finally got to her real question, “How can a God who loves us allow such terrible things to happen in our lives?” Her question went way beyond this, but that was the heart of her question. She even quoted a Scripture, Jeremiah 29:11
“I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
After quoting the verse, she lamented her troubles. Homeless, abused, neglected and rejected, she questioned how she could possibly believe in a God who says He loves her and then allowed all of those circumstances.
She really did not want to listen to anything I had to say. She saw herself as a victim and just wanted to rant. I listened for a while, never learned her real story. She might really be a victim of many terrible events, but seeing oneself as a victim never leads to a solution. Here are the truths that lead to solutions:
- God is on your side.
- God does have wonderful plans for you.
- Whether you live in a mansion or a cardboard box. For those who love Him, God can give you a joyful ending. (See the story of Lazarus – Luke 16).
Like so many people, the lady on the phone had pulled out a part of a text and left the other unread. Listen to the rest of the verse that she quoted:
“‘Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.” (vs 12-14)
It is not enough to just believe that He has great plans for us. We must read the rest of the story. We must call upon Him. We must seek Him with all our heart. Then, and only then, do we have the promise that we will find Him.
Lonnie Davis