He Has Plans For Us

The gathering of the ducks has commenced. Fall is upon us for another year. I watch with interest the annual rituals of the many wild ducks on our lake. I enjoy their enthusiastic arrival just as the ice is clearing from the lake in the early spring. Soon male and female pairs separate off from the groups and are devoted to each other in a courtship that seems to last for a few short days. It is as if the males with their distinctive colouring, shirking all responsibility, disappear from the lake after this short relationship. You simply don’t see the males again for the rest of the summer. Child care and parenting skills don’t appear to be their forte. Next, apparently very independent mothers followed by peeping ducklings appear around the dock. In an infrequent ritual that is confusing to me, two mother ducks will fight violently over a group of ducklings. I have seen families as large as ten ducklings. Due to the effect of various predators, the numbers reduce as the ducklings mature. Much like the human condition, the very obedient behaviour of the very young is replaced by the more rebellious bluster of the older ducklings as they enter their “teenage” phase. They wander off and refuse to follow mother like they should. Sometimes she has to resort to physical confrontation to have them fall into line. Eventually it becomes impossible to distinguish the young ones from their mother and the family at least appears to separate.

It is the fall gathering that is actually the most interesting. Yesterday I noticed that the birds were beginning to congregate into swimming groups. The small groups grow over the weeks into larger groups. Eventually there will be one or two huge groups of ducks ready to fly south. In the interim, I am delighted to witness the practice flights and landings around the lake. The ever growing groups appear to be practicing the flying skills of the young ducks as well as, in my imagination only perhaps, allowing the potential leaders to show off their skills in preparation for the all important choice of a leader or leaders to guide them off the lake just at the right moment and return them to just the right destination to the south. It all happens in God’s perfect timing. His plan is so very evident as I watch this natural show for another year. I remain amazed with His attention to life cycle detail as His plan for them faultlessly unfolds. If the Lord pays so much attention to the ducks on our lake, I am excited by the prospects of His plans for me.

The prophet Jeremiah tells us about these plans. He is speaking specifically about the return of the Israelites from their captivity in Babylon; however, like John Gill, a Baptist theologian who lived in the 18th century, I believe of God that “the thoughts of His heart are to all generations”. His promise to the Jews is a promise to us all who believe. Jeremiah 29:11-13 reads as follows.

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
13 You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart,
14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD…

The Lord has plans (notice the plural!) for each and every one of us. They are plans for good and not for evil. They are plans to prosper us. His plans assure us of a future and hope for that future. How do we stay within the bounds of His magnificent plans for us? We call out to Him. We pray to Him. We seek Him and He allows Himself to be found. His plans for me are so very complex that at times I don’t understand where He is taking me. At times I think He has forgotten His plans for me and then there are the wonderful moments when I see just how perfect His plans for me are. I am sure of one thing. The more I seek Him, the clearer His plans become and indeed they are marvellous and wonderful to behold.

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