"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord..

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite verses but I never really looked at the context around that verse before. As a friend so kindly reminded me the other day that this verse was written to the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken in to exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. After a long time of mourning over not being with their fellow countrymen God was telling them through Jeremiah to continue on with their life even though they were not in a familiar place and it seemed like they had been forgotten. I have what it feels like been in one huge circle this past year in my life. But I know that God does have a plan for me and I just need to be patient and sit back and watch and pray and wait patiently for His answer. I think sometimes we say that we will wait on His answer but we end up doing what we had already decided to do without really sitting back, being silent and still before God and waiting on His answer. I read this poem in the devotional Streams in the Desert. I hope that you find encouragement in this..

Be still! Just now be still!
Something thy soul hath never heard,
Something unknown to any song of bird,
A message from the Fatherland afar,
That with sweet joy the homesick soul shall thrill,
Cometh to thee if thou canst be still

Be still! Just now be still!
There comes a presence very mild and sweet;
White are the sandals of His noiseless feet.
It is the Comforter whom Jesus sent
To teach thee what the words He uttered meant.
The willing, waiting spirit, He doth fill.
If thou would'st hear His message,
Dear soul be still!