Peace

When I had to move across country between my junior and senior year of high school, a friend gave me a wall hanging with Jeremiah 29:11 printed on it: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  It was a very comforting verse at the time, when my life was being turned upside down, and during all the difficult times of my life since then

So when the verse came up in my bible study this morning, part of me sighed and thought, oh geez, not this verse again.  I get it already!  But, in an amazing moment that reminds you to never think you have God or His word figured out, the verse was presented in the King's James translation, which reads, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Well that's different.  If you compare the parts of the verse, the meanings don't quite match up, at least not to me.  "Plans to prosper you" seems very different than "thoughts of peace."  "Plans to give you hope and a future" is different than "an expected end."  Without knowing the original Greek (Hebrew?) that it was written in, I have no way of discerning what the original language actually said or meant.  So I've been dwelling on it off and on all day.  There is a certain warmness to the idea that God has plans to prosper you, to give you hope and a future.  There is a certain mystery to the idea that God wants to give you peace and an expected end.  I'm not even entirely sure what "an expected end" means!  But peace I can understand.  Peace is a new way of looking at the promise that God makes in this verse.  It tells us that no matter what is going on in our lives, God is thinking thoughts of peace about us.  Regardless of whether we feel it or not, God is thinking thoughts of peace about what is going on in our lives and our souls.

So today I have been praying for peace.  Peace for my friend who is suffering a multiple-days long migraine and stomach flu, along with her young son who also has the flu.  Peace for my friend whose father was in a tragic accident and whose life will never be the same again.  Peace for Syria.  Peace for Kenya.  Peace among the conflicts that exist in my family.  Peace for my sons*.  But most of all I am thankful that when I pray I know peace will come, regardless of whether we realize it, because of God's power and overwhelming love.  What a beautiful promise.

* Especially the fussy one who has had a pacifier stuck in his mouth almost non-stop all day so that I can have a moment of quiet...maybe whoever named it pacifier was thinking of pacify, which kind of connects to peace doesn't it?  Maybe it's just because I'm desperate for "a moment's peace"!