Here is a verse that had me baffled for awhile. The promise is so promising that I didn’t expect to experience anything but wonderful events in my life.

However, what followed after reading Jeremiah 29:11 in 1995 was anything but promising.

Through the years, I suffered broken bones, business loss, cancer, heart disease, and the death of the second love of my life,

“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 hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

These are the plans you have for me Lord? Forgive me if I don’t seem too excited to embrace them!

But embrace them I did. My bones healed; caregiving replaced retailing; I survived lung cancer and heart disease, and grief gave way to peaceful acceptance. Prosperity isn’t always of monetary value. Believe me, I am prosperous in more ways than one.

The point is to keep on believing in God’s good, despite the disasters life throws at us.

Through it all, my faith stayed strong…no matter what.