Let go of your dreams and acknowledge God in all you do. Trust him to direct your path according to the plans he knows he has for you and, without leaning on your own understanding. And soon you will reap in joy.
Karen and I’d had an amazing experience travelling across Israel. We had visited the main holy sites in Jerusalem, sailed on a boat on the Sea of Galilee and gazed across the Jordan River toward the Promised Land as Moses had done from Mount Nebo. Now our trip was nearing its end and we were visiting a small farm on the outskirts of Jerusalem before flying out the next day. “Look across this field,” said our host. “The crop is full and lush despite this arid earth. Water is our most treasured commodity,” he said. “When we sow our seed in the dry season we hope and pray the rains will come and cause a harvest. It is as if every handful of precious grain we throw on the dry ground – grain that could feed our families – is being discarded into the dry dust. This is why we sow in tears. But when the rains come and we reap an abundant harvest we reap in joy.”
The people of God were taken into captivity by the Babylonians around 598 BC. There they lived in distress, longing for Jerusalem. It was as if they, like the farmer’s seed, had been sown into the dry desert sand. They wept. But God had promised his people that he would restore their fortunes and bring them home again. He promised them peace and a future filled with hope saying, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Seventy years later God’s people rose from the ashes of captivity as Ezra and Nehemiah led them back to the Promised Land.
Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy
Psalm 126:5
Perhaps you’re facing a desert moment today. It could be you feel as though your aspirations have been scattered in the dust. Perhaps you sense God has called you to let go of a dream, to sow it, as it were, into the dry earth. Well, here’s God’s word for you today: “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
So, commit your ways to the Lord. Let go of your dreams and continue to acknowledge God in all you do. Trust him to direct your path according to the plans he knows he has for you and, without leaning on your own understanding. And soon you will reap in joy.
God-tracking is sowing in tears only to reap in joy.
IT’S ALL IN THE BIBLE. READ ALL ABOUT IT.
Get into the word of God and get the word of God into you!
Psalm 126
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Proverbs 3:5-6
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You can track God’s plans for your life with Dudley Anderson, the author of Tracking the Will of God
This post is part of Dudley’s weekly GodTracker devotional series. You can also listen to his GodTracker podcast.
