October 23

“For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not calamity, to give you a future and a hope.”

This scripture is not just today’s thought to me, but a thought and reminder every day: it hangs on the wall in my study, telling me that God is faithful to His promise to be with us always, every day of our lives. My realization of this came, as so many of our epiphanys do, in the depths of despair. Age, widowhood, financial hardship and some failure of health were overwhelming me. My efforts seemed not to be enough to cope. Of course I prayed, but perhaps not with the faith that God would take time to do something. So I read the Bible,
seeking, and came upon this scripture. My mind and heart were opened to the fact that my belief must extend to the knowledge that placing my total trust in Him is all that is required.
Now I rest secure – not just in the Grace of God and the Salvation of Jesus – but in my place in the Plan. I may not know how something will be accomplished, or when, or even if, but I glory
in a partnership with God, and am encouraged to try to discern His Plan and further it.

DEAR GOD, OUR FATHER, OUR SHEPHERD, OUR SAVIOR, TAKE US THAT STEP FURTHER IN OUR BELIEF SO WE KNOW AND ARE SUSTAINED BY YOUR PROMISES AND CAN BE RID OF SELF AND BECOME WORTHY TO BE PART OF THE GREAT PLAN WHICH YOU HAVE FOR US. LET US SERVE YOU AS FAITHFULLY AS YOU SERVE US. AMEN.

– Shared by Elizabeth Phipps