“For I know the plans I have for you, …plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” If you’re wondering how to trust God
because His plan for you is scary and hard, allow these words to bring back your
hope. They will comfort us and bring us to a new level of trust in Him. We don’t
have to know the plan, because God does.
Matt. 10:29-31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall
not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
These verses tell us of the value that God places upon His creation. Even the little
sparrow that falls to the ground does not escape the attention of the Almighty.
 The reality for us is that the Father is so concerned about our lives that He
knows the very number of hairs, which are upon our heads. If He is concerned
about something so insignificant as that, then we can rest assured that He will
take care to watch over the big issues of life. Since His knowledge of our lives is
so detailed, then we can be sure that He knows every possible thing there is to
know about us. The Lord knows our deepest and darkest secrets; He knows our
thoughts, our motives, our plans, and our dreams!
This is an encouragement to me because I know that nothing that happens in my
life catches the Lord off guard. He knows about it before it happens, Isa. 46:10,
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are
not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” It had
to pass through the filter of grace before it could even make it to me, Rom. 8:28.
I think David summed up what I feel when I try to grasp something this big, Psa.
139:6. If you are trying to hide something from the Lord, then His omniscience is
a terrible thing, because you are going to get away with nothing. However, when
you are striving to serve the Lord, His omniscience is a blessing, because the
Lord knew everything that came to pass in your life before He ever allowed it to
come your way.
2.God Knows About Your Situations
Often our sufferings and burdens of life are greater than we feel that we can bear,
but during them, we have some pretty spectacular promises. A few that comes to
mind are:
1.   If God knows all about it then it must be part of His plan for my life. If that is
true, then I can accept it and trust Him to bring me safely through.
2.   There are times when the presence of God can neither be seen nor felt, but He
is there nonetheless, protecting, providing and watching out after His own.
3.  It may feel like God doesn’t care, but in truth, He cares far more than we could
ever know.

FOR I KNOW THE THOUGHTS THAT I THINK TOWARD YOU, SAITH THE LORD,
THOUGHTS OF PEACE, AND NOT OF EVIL, TO GIVE YOU AN EXPECTED END. (KJV)
JEREMIAH 29:11
YOU MAY FEEL THAT GOD DOES NOT THINK ABOUT YOU AT ALL, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO TELL
YOU THAT HE DOES! ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU FROM THE WORD OF GOD EXACTLY WHAT THE
LORD THINKS ABOUT WHEN HE THINKS OF YOU. AS I DO, MY PRAYER IS THAT YOU WILL BE
ENCOURAGED TO KNOW THAT GOD HAS HIS EYE ON YOUR LIFE AND THAT HE IS CONCERNED
ABOUT YOU.
Nothing encourages my heart quite like Jeremiah 29:11. But then there are those
unwelcome circumstances, where hope feels like a distant dream. I question God,
“How can this be happening?” I push this verse aside and look for a different
answer. Dread finds its way into my thoughts and I feel like I’m constantly
fighting against it. I know God is with me during my fear, but I wonder. Could this
trial really be part of His plan for me?
If you’ve ever struggled to trust God through life’s hardest times, take heart.
Women throughout history have walked this road and discovered what it truly
means to trust our Heavenly Father. Women like Hagar. Through her seemingly
impossible situation, she learned a life-changing lesson in trust. Her story gives
us hope today as we face life’s battles.
I had a conversation with a dear friend recently about life’s difficult days. She’s
one of the happiest people I know. When something hard comes her way, her
instinct is to get as far away from the hurt as possible. She just doesn’t like to be
sad, so she seeks happiness to get past the hard.
Happiness is a good thing, but my friend shared an important truth with me that
day. We will have struggles, and sometimes we must stay there a while. So, when
we feel stuck, we can trust that God “will never leave us or forsake us.”
(Deuteronomy 31:6). God is there, even when we don’t see a way out now. Not
only did God provide just what Hagar needed in her darkest moment, he also
stayed with them as they moved into the next chapter of their lives. He will do the
same for us and work it all together for our good.
Remembering these promises helps me look at Jeremiah 29:11 with renewed
faith. I no longer dread those words when God’s plan for me is scary. Instead, I
can read that verse as if I am hearing my loving Father speak it to me for the first
time, reviving my heart with His gentle Spirit. Let’s try it together right now.

“For I know the plans I have for you, …plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” If you’re wondering how to trust God
because His plan for you is scary and hard, allow these words to bring back your
hope. They will comfort us and bring us to a new level of trust in Him. We don’t
have to know the plan, because God does.
Matt. 10:29-31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall
not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
These verses tell us of the value that God places upon His creation. Even the little
sparrow that falls to the ground does not escape the attention of the Almighty.
 The reality for us is that the Father is so concerned about our lives that He
knows the very number of hairs, which are upon our heads. If He is concerned
about something so insignificant as that, then we can rest assured that He will
take care to watch over the big issues of life. Since His knowledge of our lives is
so detailed, then we can be sure that He knows every possible thing there is to
know about us. The Lord knows our deepest and darkest secrets; He knows our
thoughts, our motives, our plans, and our dreams!
This is an encouragement to me because I know that nothing that happens in my
life catches the Lord off guard. He knows about it before it happens, Isa. 46:10,
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are
not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” It had
to pass through the filter of grace before it could even make it to me, Rom. 8:28.
I think David summed up what I feel when I try to grasp something this big, Psa.
139:6. If you are trying to hide something from the Lord, then His omniscience is
a terrible thing, because you are going to get away with nothing. However, when
you are striving to serve the Lord, His omniscience is a blessing, because the
Lord knew everything that came to pass in your life before He ever allowed it to
come your way.
2.God Knows About Your Situations
Often our sufferings and burdens of life are greater than we feel that we can bear,
but during them, we have some pretty spectacular promises. A few that comes to
mind are:
1.   If God knows all about it then it must be part of His plan for my life. If that is
true, then I can accept it and trust Him to bring me safely through.
2.   There are times when the presence of God can neither be seen nor felt, but He
is there nonetheless, protecting, providing and watching out after His own.
3.  It may feel like God doesn’t care, but in truth, He cares far more than we could
ever know.

Remember the words of that old suffering saint Job, Job 23:10! God knows the
way that I take, because God plans the way that I take. Everything God allows in
your life and mine is to mold us more into His image. “Till we all come in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”
 
What does God think about you? When He thinks about you, He does so with
love. When He thinks about you, He thinks of the great plans that He has for your
life.
 
No matter where you are in this world today. No matter what you are facing or are
what you are going through, there is help and hope in the Lord Jesus today.
 
It may bother you that the Lord knows about your sins, because you have never
trusted Jesus as your Savior. Why not do that today?
 
It may bother you as a Christian that your sins are not hid from the Lord. Why not
come clean with Him today?
 
You may be walking through the deepest, darkest, longest valley of your life and
wondering if the Lord cares, or even knows about it. Let me assure you that He
both knows and cares. Why not bring that need to Him today? I am inviting you to
come to a God who can and will help you if you will merely seek Him. He loves
you! Why not let Him help you as well?
 
My relationship with God has grown stronger.
I don’t know if that was one of God’s intended outcomes of my struggles.
Over the years I’ve tried to stop asking God, “Why?” Instead, I strive to ask
questions like, “What are you trying to teach me?” or “How can I use this to bring
you glory?”
I may not have all the answers, but I serve a God who does. As I anticipate the
trials yet to come, I will remember the words I once heard, “When faced with the
unknowns, I look to a God who is known.”