“I know the plans I have for
you,” declares the Lord.
—Jeremiah 29:11
“Your prayer has been heard,” angel Gabriel told Zechariah—“Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son” (Lk 1:13). The old couple had given up that dream long ago—hadn’t prayed that prayer in years. But it had been heard back then and was now to be favorably answered.
Judah’s exile in Babylon would last for seventy years. “By the rivers of Babylon [they] sat and wept when [they] remembered Zion” (Ps 137:1). God told them that all would end well. “I know the plans I have for you,” he said . . . “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future . . . and I will bring you back [home]” (Jer 29:11, 14).
God doesn’t operate on our itch for instant gratification clock. Be patient. Be faithful.
Your prayer is in God’s in-box.
He’ll answer when the time is right.