I know the plans I have for you
“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
This particular scripture is a very popular verse. People love it and people quote it, even those who don’t claim to be super followers of God. They love the fact that God has a plan for them and that it’s good. Who doesn’t want good right? It’s wonderful to know that He has a plan, and that it’s good. There’s nothing wrong with this.
But, here’s the part that most people don’t know. Too many don’t read scripture as a whole. We often tend to pick out key verses, and that’s ok to hold onto a verse. I have many! We want everything to be good and all the time, but the very same people that this promise was written to, were in the middle of captivity. That’s why He was reminding them that He had a good plan. That’s often when we need to be reminded the most, in hard times we tend to forget.
God was actually having His prophet Jeremiah to warn them not to give into false prophets. It’s tempting to want to do what sounds good and to take the easy way out. However, God never said that He knows the plans that He has for us and that it would all be easy peasy. They were to stay right where they were until HE moved them.
Again, God spoke through His prophet Jeremiah. He told His people to build houses there in that place of captivity; to dwell in them, to plant gardens and to eat the fruit of them. In other words, it was gonna be a minute and they were to settle right where they were, for now anyhow. He had also given them the promise that He would again one day move them. In the mean time, they were to LIVE and to be fruitful.
It’s tempting to give up when things don’t go our way and to stop doing good because it just doesn’t seem to be working. We can want to do things our way, but if we also want God’s good plan, we must obey Him. He was telling them to live right where they were at, and to multiply there or else wouldn’t they have diminished waiting for the next move, right? Or, they’d listen to the false prophets and go another direction.
No matter where you’re at or what trouble you may be facing, God has that same good plan for you. No matter what you are facing! He loves you and He promises to work all things out for your good, if you love Him and have been called according to His purpose. God is very specific in His word. He’s not broad. The blessing would be for anyone and everyone who just did whatever they wanted, if that was the case. The promise is for everyone but everyone doesn’t follow His plan. Isn’t that why we follow Him, because we trust He knows best? That’s why we call ourselves followers; we aren’t doing things our ways anymore.
He doesn’t want us to listen to lies or “feel goods” because He knows they’ll lead us astray. He knows it’ll be tempting. He doesn’t want our ears to just be tickled. He is making warriors, not wimps. He knows that we will have trials in this life and that they’ll grow us and bring us closer to Him, but He also has blessings that cause us to flourish. He knows the plans that He has for each one of us and in the middle of our mess we can still be established and decide to grow, or else we will shrink back.
God works all the things out for our good, not just some. His plans are always for good and ultimately they will be. That middle part can be hard and messy at times. He is good, and He is peace and love, therefore He can’t do evil. But, we must remember that the enemy has a plan too. This life is a fight between the two until He returns again. God is working all of it out for your good, not just the good. He has plans to give you hope and a good final outcome, but you and I must truly believe this and follow accordingly.
We can’t just wave a magical wand and make it all go away, but we can cooperate with His plan. Sometimes we don’t know what to do, but we can always go back to the Word and remain faithful. No one likes to be in a hard place, but please don’t lose hope or let go of it. God has called us to be a prisoners of hope (Zechariah 9:12). Hope is our anchor in the storms of life. It keep us connected to God and His truths, no matter how rough it gets or how bleak it may look. God will come through. There is hope in the midst.
Jeremiah 28 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
He tells us how to do it. Call upon Him. Come pray and He will hear you! Seek Him. Inquire and require of Him. Take Him at His word. He promises you’ll find Him when you search for Him with ALL YOUR HEART. After all, that’s where He lives and abides, is in your heart. He will be found of you and He can release you, but we must be patient and expect while we wait. He is teaching us. None of us have reached perfection but we can constantly be reaching as He’s teaching.
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6
In the mean time, now that we have established this truth that He does have a plan and it’s good, let us LIVE!
Live out your life no matter where you are. Put down roots and be established and when it’s time, He will transplant and deliver you. In the mean time, grow deep in His love and truth. Don’t give up. There’s only two options: listen to truth or lies? Be diminished or live?
He promised to never leave nor forsake you. He is right there with you no matter where you are or why. If we are in a hard spot because of a fault of our own or because of a fault of someone else, or maybe no fault at all - He’s still there and He’s still God. He still loves you. That’s good news. God also corrects those whom He loves. If He corrects us, then it’s always to course correct us to get us back on the right track. He loves us too much to let us go the wrong way, we are His children. Don’t lose heart or hope. He is for you and He is with you, always.
Will you be ready and prepared when He comes to deliver you or will you be perishing in your faith? Will you be grown up and capable to handle the move or shift, or will we still be in infancy stage when He calls us out? A due time is coming. God has a plan and what He says, He will do. We must cooperate with that plan or we are outside of it. If He has made you a promise, you can not only count on it but now rest assured in it. We can cease from striving to have it all figured out. He invites us to rest in His promises. We must obey and do what He’s asking us each to do. The outcome is really up to us.
No matter what you’re going through, He is your way out.
Don’t stop living just because the plans are on pause. Let’s live right here and right now, and show that we have faith that He will come through and deliver at just the right time. Expect good things to come and they will! It might not get better right away but nevertheless, His word holds true! You can count on that.
He knows the plans He has for you!
