Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

This was a word from the Lord through Jeremiah to the people of Israel who had been taken captive to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. It was a promise which God would keep after they completed seventy years in captivity. That is a lifetime to wait for anything and some will surely have died before the time came.

In your relationship with God, there will be times when you have to wait. Sometimes your prayers will not be answered in the way you expect or in the time-frame which you desire, but if you have confidence in the Lord as the One in charge of your future, you will become more patient and a lot wiser as time goes by.

I actually prefer the phraseology at the end of the verse in the King James Version: “to give you an expected end.”  I take this very personally – not just a hope and a future but a God-ordained future and end specific to me. I am his child after all, and I have learned that there is nothing I can plan or orchestrate for my future that could be better than what the God who knows the end from the beginning can design. It takes discipline and sensitivity to not insist on your own way when the Holy Spirit asks you to take a detour from your plans, but I find it takes a tremendous load off when I listen and obey. The result is a life full of surprises which polishes you for God’s glory. “…To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22)

“Yes, the future of my children is predetermined. I need only that they walk before me in sincerity, following my lead as they go, opening up their hearts to hear my commands and following them to the letter.”