Letting Go

I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. [Jeremiah 29:11 (GW)]

For most of us, life hasn’t turned out as we expected it would. In some ways, it is much better, but in other ways, life took some unasked for turns. We’ve all had our share of sorrow and disappointment; shattered dreams litter our lives. Lord, remind us that those were our hopes and desires, not yours. Help us release our unattainable dreams, and the grief that accompanies them, the way we would helium balloons, letting them fly away out of sight. It’s only when we let go of what will never be that we can reach out to receive what is yet to come. Reassure us, Lord, that your plan far exceeds anything we could ever have envisioned.

 

Today is a New Day

2013-9-26
Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago. I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it? I will make a clear way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land. [Isaiah 43:18-19 (GW)]

Thank you, God, for the new day. Help me forget past failures and old disappointments. Open my eyes to the opportunities presented to me today.

A Clean Slate

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgression. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sins. [Psalm 51:1-2 (NIV)]

God of Second Chances, thank you for your love and forgiveness. As you have forgiven me, help me to forgive myself. Let me leave my guilt behind and start this week with a clean slate.

Make Every Day Count

Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath [Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT)]

Giver of Life, thank you for the days with which I have been blessed. Thank you for the days you hold of my future, no matter how many or how few they may be. Show me how to live each day to the fullest so that, when my life comes to an end, I will have no remorse, regrets or unfinished business.