Today's Bible Reading: JEREMIAH 23:33-24:10, 29:1-31:14
Jeremiah 29:11
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.
We all make plans. Our plans may be thought out overtime or just spontaneously occur, but we all plan. Plans are never certain, circumstances and situations can cause us to have to change or postpone our plans. We don’t have any assurances that what we have planned will actually take place. Our plans are always in a state of flux until they actually come to fruition.
The future is also uncertain. We plan for the future. We have hopes, dreams and aspersions about the future, but they are never sure. And even though we might meticulously plan for it, we really don’t have any clue what the future holds.
But even though our plans may be shaky and our future unsure, they are not to the Lord. The plans that He has formulated for us will occur in the future that lay before us.
You see if you look at our text in context, you will find that the major of the people of God had been carried away into captivity in Babylon over 1,700 miles away from Jerusalem (Jer 29:1). The people were afraid and uncertain of what lay ahead for them. All their plans for their future were abruptly interrupted and discarded by the invading Babylonians. A new plan of captivity in a foreign land was cast for their future. Disillusioned, defeated, disheartened and depressed, all hope had seemed to disappear from God’s people.
That is why God told Jeremiah to pen a letter of encouragement to His enslaved people. The letter was a glimmer of hope for a grieving people. In it, Jeremiah tells them that this is a temporary condition, it will end. This plan and future for them would last 70 years, and then the Lord would bring them back to their promised land. (Jer 29:10). They were to build a life for themselves there until they were brought back to their homeland (Jer 29:5-6).
Our focused text reassures the people that God has not given up on them or relinquished His plan for them. He has a plan for them and they can be assured that He will accomplish it. His plan is certain and unlike their fluid plans, He is faithful to fulfill what He has planned. There was their hope and ours. Knowing that the Lord has a plan for us, gives us hope when we can’t formulate a plan or find that our plans have failed. His plans are never frustrated or fail. They are sure and secure. They will occur.
So even though they couldn’t see their future beyond captivity, the Lord through this letter gave them hope that He holds their future and the assurance that nothing can hinder what He holds.
So, when your plans crumb and you future collapses, don’t despair or become discouraged, rather trust the one who sent this letter to a disheartened people. Cling to these words of hope from the Lord who says to you, “l know the plans I have for you, . . . plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Make them your own. The fact that He knows when we don’t is encouragement enough. So you can trust the one whose plans for you are sure and whose promises about your future are secure.
Today throw away all concern about your future. Let your hope not be in what you hold for your future, but the one who holds your future. Thank Him that He knows the plans that He has for you and you need not worry about the instability of your plans since He’s plans for you are secure. Trust Him for your future when you can’t even see your future. Count on His plan for you when you can’t count on your plan for yourself. It usually works better that way.
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