WELFARE

 

Dear Reader, 

I recently read this passage and it caused me to think about our current mindset. 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

As you can see I bolded "Welfare". What did I think about when I saw that one word?  Well first I thought about how if you are ON welfare, most of the time it is backed by a series of negative thoughts. Thoughts that are defeating.  

Allow me for one moment to change this thought. You see I looked up the word in the dictionary on my trusty phone. Take a look: 

Welfare: The health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group

You see, I was hit so strongly with how our society has changed this word. When you're on welfare it means that you are getting assistance from taxpayer's hard-earned money, which the government facilitates. 

However when you are trusting in God...He has "plans for welfare". Does this mean we should be on welfare?  😬  NO, obviously! It means that He cares for our well-being. 

Yes, now this sounds about right. How often are words taken out of context? Think about that last text argument you had. How did you feel when you read it? Was it taken to a whole different level? Did you read and re-read the text? (I've done that so many times) 

However, if we can just take a step back and think about it for a second. Welfare was intended to mean you care for someone other than yourself. You care for that person's well-being. You want the best for them. You want to see them happy. You want to see them achieve their full potential, to realize their dreams. 

God wants the same for us. He wants to see us free and to trust in Him. Why? Well, that's easy, He loves us. He can see the end of the road, while we can only see what is before us, and sadly what is behind us. 

Keep your focus on God. Just as Jeremiah 29:11 suggests, He has good things planned out for us, we just need to choose, if we are going to trust in His word and have faith or just take the easy way out and choose to stay with our negative welfare mindset. 

Food for thought: 

"So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest—the promised land] because of unbelief and an unwillingness to trust in God." Hebrews 3:19 (AMP) 

 Osbert Maldonado