It has been a tough transition, getting used to the big empty space that our sweet Daisy filled up around here (not there yet...).
In an effort to have fun and move forward, we are going on our first ever "official" family vacation. Our children are all teenagers, and we've never been anywhere except local adventures and to see family. So, we are off to Folly Beach this summer!
That said, I must admit that I fight foreboding...a feeling that something bad will happen.
It isn't just the upcoming trip that causes me to feel that way; I feel it with most things I am expectant about. And I am sick of it!
Even though I know the verse by heart, I felt compelled to look up Jeremiah 29:11 this morning. The Word of God is living and active (Heb 4:12), which means we can always learn something new!
" 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope...' " (Jeremiah 29:11, NASB).
The first thing I did was to look up the definitions for welfare and calamity. I find that, even though I may know what a familiar word means, looking up the definition often clarifies or punctuates a truth in the scripture I'm reading.
Welfare is: health, happiness and fortunes of a person or group
Calamity is: an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.
I must say that, reading the definitions and understanding that my heavenly Father has plans for my welfare and not for calamity, is incredibly encouraging!
Then I noticed that the word have has a side note that says: "Lit am," which means it would read, "I know the plans that I am for you..."
That means Father God doesn't just have good plans for me, He is good plans for me! And if He is for me, who (or what) can be against me (Romans 8:31)?
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