Good Intentions

I like to send little emotes to my wife.  I am frequently away from home when I go off to school, and if I am working in Grand Rapids.  We can be away from each other for several days at a time. It is not an ideal situation for either of us.  But, sometimes when life is in transition these things do happen.

There is one thing that is important to my wife, though.  She wants to know if I am on her mind.  So I send her  a note each morning to let her know that I am thinking about her. Usually it is something fairly simple, like a couple of emojis, such as a bunny with a little jug of honey.  Put them together and it’s “honey bunny,” which has been my pet name for her almost since we started dating.

We have a saying in the US. “Its the thought that counts.”  Maybe if you were really hoping to get a bike or some money for a gift, hearing that phrase is small consolation if all you got was a card. But knowing that people have kindly thoughts toward us is always affirming at some level. 

On the job, sometimes maybe you are feeling the effects of the grind. Maybe its been tough lately, and you wonder if anyone notices your hard work or sacrifices.  Then you find out that the boss has had his eye on you, and gave you a little extra work as preparation for a big promotion.  He has kindly intents toward you. He knows you are good, and even if he did not communicate it to you, you are on his mind and has big ideas for your role in the company.

David realized this sort of thing about God, too.  He went through some hard things in life. He faced some real and overwhelming challenges. But he knew that God had a plan for him.  I am sure that there were times when he wished for God to either hurry up, or if God was going to follow through on what He had said.  But whenever he caught a glimpse of God’s plan, either through a friend, or a circumstance, or through a prophet, he realized that God always does have him on His mind, and for good. 

We don’t know at what point in his life, David wrote these words in Ps 139:

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 

Thoughts in the passage can be translated “intentions.”  David saw God’s intentions for him, and he was overwhelmed by the breadth and kindness of God’s intentions toward him.  David had failed and fallen short many times in his life.  Yet still, through it all, he knew that God had good intentions, good plans toward him.

We bump into a large number of people in our world today.  Most of them will pass swiftly from out of our life.  A small number will make repeat visits.  For some of them, we may be a useful piece in their own plans. For others, they may think of us only with malice. Its a great thing when we find people who think and plan only good for and around us.  

God is one of those.  We sometimes wonder if God is waiting, on the edge of his seat, to just beat us down.  Ps 139 says something different.  For those who are His, and know Him as savior, he sits on the edge of His seat ever waiting to talk to us, and ever ready to bless us. He has great plans for us!  Yes, God does in fact have good intentions for us, no matter the circumstance.