Starting off the year with my very favorite verse. What an excellent devotional my mom gave me! 🙂 Jeremiah 29:11 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.” I have always loved this passage of scripture. It is so comforting to me that even when it seems like there is no plan – like the world and my little life spinning around with it are completely out of control – God still knows what the purpose of it all is. And, not just that there’s a plan, but it is to prosper me. It’s one thing to have a plan, but if the plan is horrible pain, suffering and ultimate disaster in my life – that’s not one I’m very thrilled about. The thing is, this verse is in the middle of a letter written by Jeremiah (a prophet) to his people who’d been captured and were prisoners in a foreign land. The entire country had been taken from their homes and were being held captive among some really not cool Babylonians. The most interesting thing to me is that verse 10 in this passage promises release and the returning of the people to their homes — but only after they’ve spent 70 years as prisoners. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem like a great promise to me. I think I would have questioned that plan just a tad. But God follows it up with a verse that essentially says “Trust me. I know what I’m doing. It’s good. You’ll see.” Even in the worst of times, when it seems like God has failed me, left me, or forgotten about me, His plan is still present. More importantly the plan is always working for my ultimate good. Fan-stinkin-tastic!