Tom Barnard

“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to care for you,

not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

Jeremiah 29:11 The Message

“God can take your trouble and change it into treasure. Your sorrow can be

exchanged for joy, not just a momentary smile, but a deep new joy.

It will be a bubbling experience of new hope that brings

brightness to your eyes and a song to your heart.”

Barbara Johnson, in Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy, page 187

Barbara Johnson is a Christian writer who can bring a smile to your face and tears to your eyes—in the same sentence. Her books are instant best sellers. Millions read them, or listen to her at retreats and conferences, and their lives are better for it. Her writings encourage people from every walk of life. But her personal story is not one of all gain and no pain.  

She has overcome staggering setbacks in her life—five of them, in fact. Her husband had a near-fatal accident that left him blind and crippled for months. Two of her three sons were killed while still young—one in Viet Nam and the other as the result of a tragic decision by a drunk driver. Her third son left home on the day of his graduation from junior college, deciding to enter into a homosexual lifestyle. For nearly eleven years his family heard nothing from him, until one day he called to say that he was leaving his current life to follow the leadership of the Lord his parents served. At the peak of her professional career, Barbara was diagnosed as having adult-onset diabetes.

Barbara doesn’t let her pain paralyze her. In each crisis, she has learned how to release the pain or sorrow to God and let Him turn a “hopeless end into an endless hope” (Geranium, page 142).

What “hopeless ends” are you facing today? Is it too much to believe that God has your future all planned out? Can you trust him when he says, “I know what I’m doing”? Can you turn over your anxieties to God and let him work things out where you can’t? I love the words to this song:

“Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus—

Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, broken toys.

Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus,

And he will turn your sorrows into joy.”

Heavenly Father, there are times when I can’t read the verses from Jeremiah 29 with total confidence. These are times when your voice is silent and the voice of the Evil One constantly accuses me and defames your name. It is in these moments that I find comfort in your promises to help. Today I turn to you again. Lift my vision to see you clearly, and help me trust you to care for the things that are beyond my control. I turn to you now. Thank you for watching… and listening…and drawing me close to you, the place where mercy reaches out and grace abounds. In the strong Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.