"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

We often want the easy way. We want the hope without the hardship, the peace without the persecution, the joy without the jarring events of life. Taken in context, Jeremiah 29:11 is anything but easy. It is gracious hope based upon God's faithfulness that rises above our unfaithfulness. It is a gift of God's mercy. It is a comfort from God given in the midst of storms of our own making. It is not a promise to claim on a sunny day but a life giving word to cling to in a dry desert of despair.