““For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you and expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11.

The safest place to be is in the will of God. The road that we travel may not always be easy, but when God designs the pathway… it is the best laid plan for us. My friends, God is doing something far greater in our lives than we can imagine. When we pray for Him to order our steps and to be used for His glory; He is faithful and just to provide all that we need. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” Psalm 37:23.

However, there are circumstances that we often find ourselves, and wonder when will God come through with the deliverance that I need… can you envision being enslaved and oppressed for over seventy years?! Jeremiah 29:11 states: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you and expected end.” This verse was spoken to the children of Israel when they had been taken captives in Babylon; but God promised to prosper them right in the midst of their captivity!

Things seemed pretty bleak from the eyes of the Israelites…but don’t miss the blessing in the message; even in all the hardships and oppression, God was still with His beloved children, protecting, providing, and prospering -and it didn’t end there because God promised that He would still bring deliverance by returning them to their homeland…but they would wait seventy years! This timeline was certainly shocking and not what they wanted to hear, but they had to maintain in the meantime-and trust God to fulfill his promises!

We all want a right now deliverance…yes, God is God and He can step in and deliver instantaneously, if that is His will…but often, God says wait… and during those painful waiting periods…He is growing, stretching, and teaching us…let us call on the words of His servant Job to witness to our hearts; for even in all that he endured he stated these words: “Though he slay me, yet will I  trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.”

Job chose to cleave to the faithfulness of God, the word hope (יחל yâchal) is Hebrew and means to properly wait, stay, delay; and it conveys the idea of waiting with an expectation of aid or help from the one who can and will deliver; Job’s expectation and hope was in God-he knew a change would come!

Where do you stand at the darkest hour…will you hold on and rest in the faithfulness and omnipotence of God like Job- take courage, it is only for a season for “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30;5b.

The Lord is faithful, gracious and plenteous in mercy…”For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” He covers all of His beloved children beneath His wings of love!

God’s blessings of peace and great mercy by with us all.