Hope

"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for  your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."  Jeremiah 29:11

This comes after all the indictments against the people of Israel and Judah.  After all the reasons why they are not living in covenant God plants hope through Jeremiah.  I kind of wonder if we forget this.  I mean we often are good at sighting verses and the reasons why things are going bad in peoples lives, but do we give them hope?  See I want to be a hope planter.  Sometimes it is easier to see all that is wrong:  we don't show God's love freely enough, or if you had prayed maybe you wouldn't be in this mess, or if you had stayed on the straight and narrow, or you know what to do to help yourself.  We're so busy sighting what is wrong that we forget to plant hope. You will recover God promises to be with you, or lets pray together about that, or sorry your off the path now I was once too:  wouldn't these be ways of planting hope in the world. 

I put the sunset at the top because I believe it helps to symbolize hope.  There is a new fresh day coming.  A day to try again and be a hope planter.  A day in which we can truly reach out to others and listen.  A day when we can start all things new.