July 13

“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 a hope and a future.”

Jeremiah was writing to God’s people exiled in Babylonia. Had the Lord abandoned them? Seventy years were to pass before the Lord brought them back from captivity. Think of the traditional Indian garment called a sari. Each one is a work of art, magnificent and intricate in design, and stretches about six yards in length. You would think that a complicated
machine made them. Not so! They are made by a father and son team. The father sits above a platform two to three feet higher than the son surrounded by several spools
of thread. The son does just one thing: at a nod from the father, he moves the shuttle from one side to the other and back again. The father gathers threads in his fingers, nods once more,
and the son moves the shuttle again. This is repeated for hundreds of hours, until the magnificent pattern emerges. The father is the only one who has the final design in mind.

Father in heaven, there is great purpose in your design for us,for me. Help me trust in the plan you have for my life; help me listen and respond to your divine guidance. In Jesus’ name.Amen.

-Shared by Rev. Nora Gonzalez