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Have you ever been in “survival mode”?  I certainly have! I actually backtracked my life to 2018 when my son for the first time stared into the face of death, and we were right there with him, fighting, and surviving. Barely getting by, barely hanging on, barely making it to church each week,  barely getting a word from God, barley getting enough sleep, barely  paying our bills, etc and the list goes on and on. It was a “barely” season.   I was surviving! It was a wilderness!  It was dry! Many times I cried out to God, “where are you?” 

Have you ever cried out to God like this?  However, through the years Jeremiah 31 has been a WORD I have stood on.  I want to encourage to go back and read it.  There is LIFE in it!

First, let’s take a look at what “survive” and “thrive” even mean! 

Survive: to remain alive after the death of someone,  or the occurrence of some event; continue to live: to remain or continue in existence or use:Thrive: to prosper; be fortunate or successful; to grow or develop vigorously; flourish:

Please go read all of Jeremiah 31 because in these verses the Lord is painting a picture for us what it looks like to THRIVE and what it’s going to feel like. 

He said that we would FEEL JOY again.   God will build up the ruins and rebuild all that has been destroyed or devastated.

The manifestations of JOY is laughter, not tears, dancing, not weeping,  and a “coming together”, not separation.

The promise is:

• You will arise
• You will experience the presence of God
• You will SING…… A new song
• You will SHOUT…….to the nations
• You will PROCLAIM…….with a loud voice the God who SAVES is here
• You will PRAISE….
• You will experience the bounty of God, the goodness of God in the heights of HIS presence.
• Your soul will be satisfied
• You will not grieve any longer over what has been lost because of the Presence of God
• You will rejoice with a dance
• God will turn your mourning into dancing
• God will comfort you from all your loss
• You will rejoice instead of deep piercing grief
• God will  fill you up!  You will be satiated, saturated to the maximum experience, filled to overflow. You will be satisfied with God’s goodness!

I want to end with this saying that the bridge that connects surviving to thriving is PRAISE.   Not just any praise, but an intentional praise.  Having a heart of gratitude and giving God the highest praise of HALLELUJAH!

GOD is  showing up in your pain, loss, discomfort, wailing, mourning and grief. 

His promise is:

• Your tears will refrain from weeping
• Your eyes will no longer bitterly lament
• Your work will be rewarded
• God will redeem all that’s been lost
• There is a hope for your future
• Your children will come back home (to God)

This is a perfect picture painted for us of what it looks like to go from surviving to thriving!

God will ……….Build you

God will ……….Rebuild you

God will ……….Be kind to you

God will ………. Love on you

God will ………..Forgive you

God will ………. Restore you

God will ………. Redeem you

God will ………. Heal you

God will ………. Give you hope

God will ………. Give you a future

God will ………. Bless you

God will ………. Turn his face toward you

God will ………. Dry your eyes from tears

God will ……….Gather your family and the Church

God will ……….Deliver you from what is stronger than you

God will ……….Recompense you

This is His WORD! Will you BELIEVE IT?