A little sermon

Doesn't it sometimes seem like too much is piling up on your plate and you just can't make any progress? And that, in addition to just the everyday stuff that feels like too much, life's disappointments keep piling up, too, and weighing on you?

I know sometimes I feel like that. I feel like I just can't get out from under things. My to-do list grows rather than shrinks, my body doesn't cooperate with all I want to accomplish, and I'm reminded of the losses in my life.

This morning I'm reminded of a verse from the Bible that has sustained me and given me great comfort since I discovered it in junior high - Jeremiah 29:11. Listen to this promise...

"I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a future and a hope."

And then this morning, I read Psalms 12:6...

The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace...

What can I count on in this life? Hard times, struggles, sadness. But I can also count on joy, the sunshine that follows storms, seasons that change in waves of beauty.

And I can count on the promises of God. I know these things are true, because He has fulfilled these promises time and time again. Even this morning, when I'm feeling a little down, I can close my eyes and rest on those two promises, knowing that it will all work out in the end.

A cliche? Maybe. But still true.