For countless years, the verse Jeremiah 29:11: "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 hope and a future." has been shared with me. I've been reminded of it over and over again, through graduation cards, "pep-talks", and prayers; however, I've never fully allowed this verse to sink in and resonate with me. Recently however due to my current life circumstances, I've begun to formulate an opinion and perspective on it and decided it was time to share.
*Discloser* If you decide to keep reading, keep this in mind: I am by no means a Biblical scholar. I'm not claiming that my perspective is the only one or indeed the best one. Instead I share it as my opinion and perspective on this well-known verse. Enjoy!
For so long, I was under the naive assumption that God's plans for my life would be shared with me, perhaps in some kind of 'Life Manual' or 'How To Tackle This Decision' pamphlet prior to any large life choices, decisions, or experiences. I hoped and prayed that God would direct me and tell me what to do and more specifically what would happen in my future. I didn't want to go through the tough patches before reaching God's, or more honestly, my dream life scenario.
Over these last few weeks, I have found myself struggling with my current life situations. At points I've felt discontent, discouraged, useless, unappreciated, and frustrated with everything going on. Last week specifically was a challenge. Early on in the week, two PR related jobs for which I had applied turned me down and things at Swadley's were continually getting worse as the week went on. My tip revenue was low, there was a significant amount of co-worker drama, and the manager's all appeared to be grumpy leading to a even more unpleasant work atmosphere. I was just overall overwhelmed and frustrated and suddenly found myself upset with God. I questioned him asking why things were going so poorly and why he wasn't giving me the dream job, ideal work environment, and salary that I truly desired.
It was during one of these long and arduous work shifts though, that the phrase "Bloom where you are planted" came to mind. I quickly realized and began to remind myself over and over, that flowers do not choose where they are planted. They don't decide on the soil, proximity to shade, or location geographically. They don't complain because they are too close to a lake or too far away from other daisies. Instead they bloom. Because, regardless of where they are, the sun still shines and the rain still falls to provide and nurture.
While pondering on this, a metaphor was brought to my mind. We, as Christians do not decide where we are placed, what skills and gifts we are born with or even how many of the situations in our live will unfold. We are all placed in the midst of trials and tribulations at times and not understand why. However, regardless or the chaos, God still provides. He brings the sun and the rain to help us grow and nurture and perhaps when he sees that we are ready he will scoop us up and show us the next step in our lives. Until then however, we can learn a lesson from the flower and just bloom! Instead of complaining and questioning God's plans we can just bloom. We can trust that his plans are just like he promised, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.
