SERIOUSLY!

"Seriously?"  

I wonder how many times I have uttered that word? 

My sister calls me with unexpected news..."Seriously?"

My husband tells me a funny story about the kids..."Seriously?"

A friend shares her story of her crazy day..."Seriously!"

The prophet Jeremiah used this term when talking to God's people about their exile from Jerusalem.

"This is God's word on the subject: As soon as Bablylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I will show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I am doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 

When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed!"

Jeremiah 29:10-14

So to summarize what God is saying to us, 

"I AM STILL HERE! I HAVE PLANS FOR YOU! 

AND.....WHEN YOU GET SERIOUS ABOUT ME....

I WILL BE THERE!"

This is so convicting today as I wrap up the final days of our spring semester. I am busy going here and there, meeting with this person and that person, grading this paper and that paper...busy with everything but God! 

I have some concerns on my shoulders lately...my dad's health, my aunt's health, my grandmother's health....Lucy in Sierra Leone, the possibility of an upcoming trip to Africa.......and, as I mentioned, end of semester. I have kept my morning devotional time, but I have not put in near the time with God that I should be. I have not taken him seriously in all this!

And God is saying, "SERIOUSLY?!?!  I AM STILL HERE! I HAVE PLANS FOR YOU! AND.....WHEN YOU GET SERIOUS ABOUT ME....I WILL BE THERE!"

Dear Lord, Help me to GET SERIOUS about you! Help me to re-prioritize once again. Forgive me for not being serious about you lately. Forgive me for not seeing that it is YOUR PLAN that matters most! Thank you for promising us in these verses that you will be there, that you will listen...if we will only get serious about you!