This past Sunday, my pastor preached a very encouraging sermon in the midst of the crazy times we’re living in, from Jeremiah 29. Most of us are familiar with verse 11:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Unfortunately, we often stop there and don’t read on through the next few verses. Check out the rest of the passage…

“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, and will bring you back from captivity….” (Jeremiah 29:12-14)

How often do we miss the second part of that equation? We believe that God will take care of us, but then we fail to follow through and ASK God to take care of us. We don’t ASK Him to help us with our family’s finances. We don’t ASK Him to help us with our marriages. We don’t ASK Him to help us get through a deployment. We don’t ASK Him to help us with the deepest worries and burdens of our hearts.

Last night as we were driving home from Military Monday night hockey game with our Nashville professional hockey team, The Predators, (and Military Monday was the best thing about it since the team lost BADLY to a team from Canada, but I digress…), I heard a radio host make the comment that often, we trust God to save us for eternity but we don’t trust Him with our day to day lives.

Despite what you may believe some days, God does care about what you’re going through with your job today. He cares how much you and your kids are struggling to get through this deployment. He cares that you feel so completely isolated and alone even though your husband is home and in bed next to you every night. He cares about you. And He wants to give you hope. He wants to see you prosper. He wants to see you grow.

I think sometimes we think that in order to seek God, we have to have everything perfect in our lives before we can do so. We do it with friends – how many times do you avoid inviting people over because your house isn’t clean the way you think it needs to be? We also do the same thing with God, too, and we wait and wait, hoping to get our lives cleaned up enough that we will finally be good enough to invite Him in for a bit.

But God doesn’t expect that and He doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want our perfection. He just wants our availability. He doesn’t want our successes and accomplishments. He just wants us. He just wants our trust. He wants our good, bad and ugly.

If you are struggling today, don’t wait until tomorrow to ask God to help you. Call on Him today and ask Him for His help. Like His Word says, He will listen. All you have to do is ask.

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