"Never Fade"

They thought at times ‘bout quittin’,

Just stoppin’ ‘long the way,

Late at night while sittin’,

Near the fire at close of day.

Exhaustion swept their faces,

The man and his wife, too,

They wondered if God’s graces,

Would finally see ‘em through.

Pioneers, they’d heard it,

To tame a land so wild,

But the journey long deferred it,

And it was hard to reconcile,

The dream that long inspired ‘em,

And the hope of hearth and home,

With the path that endless tired ‘em,

And the trail they had to roam.

But then they’d pray together,

For their future and their dream,

And soon they would feel better,

Real peace flowed like a stream.

And so they kept on going,

Like hundreds more back then,

Somehow finally knowing,

They they with all their kin,

Were led by God their Savior,

To the west to settle there,

To build life with His favor,

His goodness for to share.

We look back to their labor,

We appreciate their strengths,

How family and neighbor,

Could go to such great lengths,

To venture out together,

Then build the life they had,

And the question comes if whether,

We’ll learn to build and add,

To the legacy they gave us,

The foundation that they laid,

May the Good Lord save us,

And never let our history fade.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me.’” (Jeremiah 29:11-12, NLT)

This promise, made to God’s people while in captivity in Babylon, is another that comes to us via Jesus Christ. According to Paul, all of God’s promises become ours when we surrender to Jesus, and this one is powerful. The question we must ask ourselves is do we really believe God has a wonderful plan for our lives? If so, we should do everything we can to discover it, receive it, cooperate with it and live it out. I’m sure that many of our past relatives did exactly that, and lived out their God-given dream. With the inspiration of a God-ordained future we can persevere as well. Go for it.

Lord, help us live in the inspiration of Your plan for our lives, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mark Maggiori, used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.