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“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord.

‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

The Israelites were in exile, God told them to build houses and settle into the life of Babylon. God instructed them to give their children in marriage to those in that foreign land. He also told the exiles they would be there 70 years. This had to dishearten the Israelite people. (It would me.) Then He speaks the words of the verse shown above.

The spring of 1996 we moved my dad and step mother into another house. The move-in day was St. Patrick’s Day. Two months later, my husband stepped out on our front porch in time to see my stepmother and her sister driving down the street. They pulled into our driveway. They had been at the surgeon’s office at the hospital’s campus located down the street.

The news wasn’t good. My stepmother, a six- year breast cancer survivor had been diagnosed with the disease a second time. They asked me to transport her to her radiation appointments, four days each week, and to help her get her meds. Her sister had been in the habit of coming to town each weekend; she would take her to on Mondays.

I was devastated. I mentally asked questions of God. “Why?” “Why now?” “Why her?” “Why again?” One day I sat on our bed and voiced these thoughts over and over again. Strange thing was I didn’t get any answers then.

For half the summer on my way to get her, I drove past the Christian bookstore and saw the words of Jeremiah 29:11 on its electronic sign. As I pulled away from our house each day, I found myself wondering if I would see the words that brought me some peace.

God knows what will come into our lives and what we need to get through the difficult times. He guides us through these uncertain times. We have to depend on Him to do for us what He wants done.

While we go through these difficult times, God teaches us, He moulds us into more compassionate, more understanding persons.

One of my closest friends has a granddaughter who graduated from high school this spring. In one of my conversations with my friend, she told me this young woman had chosen Jeremiah 29:11 for her life’s verse.

For several years, this granddaughter, whom I have known her entire life, felt a calling from God on her life. She has decided He has called her into nursing. I remember, as a child, she always had a tender heart. All who know her have seen compassion, kindness, and respect in her ways.

Sometimes, all we can do is turn all our plans over to God. Several years ago I chose to do this deliberately in my prayers each morning. My husband had been talking about getting a second car. Shortly after he retired he sold his car, making us a one-car couple. Our son who had returned home had his vehicle.

This one particular June day, I prayed aloud. I turned the day’s plans over to the Lord. A little while later, we went car shopping. We test drove two of them and decided the first one was too big for me to handle. The second, a blue Buick, came home with us that evening. That was the activity of a certain Friday in June, 2002.

It wasn’t my plan to purchase a car at that time. I had almost dismissed the idea. But God knew what we needed. That car served us well. Late this past winter, our son relocated to another state because he found work. We passed that blue Buick on to him. The events of that transaction were not in my plans but God knew what His plans were for us.

Sometimes we experience circumstances in our lives that try to defeat us. We don’t know where to turn; we finally look to God We should learn to look to Him first. Our Lord has plans for each of His children. He will see them through to completion. The only thing He requires of us is that we trust in and follow Him.

Dear Lord:

I thank You for knowing what is best for our lives. I thank You for guiding us through each day of our lives. I ask Your blessing upon all who seek Your wisdom and blessing for their lives. In the name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN

"Voice of Inspiration" from Andy Castro

Mangled Mind-Psalms 91:15