For I know well the plans I have in mind for you plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me. and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
Has tiny shimmers of light begun to penetrate your heart?
Most of my life I thought Lent was only a time when we sacrificed something, abstained from meat on Fridays and gave up a favorite food as a penance for our sins. These latter years, it has become more of an awareness of God in my life through a deeper look at where sin has affected my heart and where my relationship with God stands.
In Jeremiah 29, God invites us to search for Him, to call out to Him in prayer. To not let our hearts be hardened, but seek Him. And in that seeking find HOPE.
If there were one word to describe a Lenten journey with a positive annotation, it would be hope. At the end of the 40 day rainbow is a pot of hope as we celebrate our return from exile.
The beauty of the journey lies in that hope of transformation. When embarking on Lent many people dread it, seeing it as challenge to sacrifice. One thing I’m learning is not everyone wants to be challenged. But everyone seeks hope, draws strength from hope and sustains in hope.
I invite you to ponder Jeremiah 29:11-14 today. Place your name in the passage. What feelings arise as you hear God speak directly to you? Do you find yourself longing to seek Him with your whole heart? To speak to Him more?
Prayers for each of you on this glorious journey of transforming the heart in the midst of the desert.
Women Who Walk By Faith 
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