Best laid plans

Pastor Carol Grace ♦ June 1, 2012 ♦ Leave a comment

Jeremiah 29:11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,

Online Bible Study Tools, NRSV

A popular TV show in the 80’s, The A Team, often included the line, “I love it when a plan comes together.” I have lived long enough to know that sometimes even the best laid plans do, indeed, go awry. (Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck)

The context of today’s scripture is that false prophets had arisen to proclaim peace and Jeremiah, a true prophet sent by God, is trying to undo the damage done by these prophets.  Hananiah, in Chapter 28, told the people that within two years the yoke of bondage under Babylon would be broken.  However, that was not God’s plan.

God loves His people.  Yet, He allowed Israel to be carried away to Babylon and to live under foreign rule for seventy years.  Why?  Because sin can not be rewarded.  Yet, here in Jeremiah the prophet tells the people to make the best use of their time while in Babylon.  Marry, have children, and support the land in which you dwell. Then, in due time, you will be delivered, but only after you have sought after God with your whole heart.

Are you in bondage today?  Are you making the best use of your time, or is your time consumed with whining and complaining about your lot in life?  Believe me, I have done my share of whining, so I can identify.

But God has a plan, and His plan is greater than anything you are going through right now.  Whether your bondage is self-imposed because of personal sin, or you are suffering not through any fault of your own but because the world in which we dwell is a world of sickness and disease and even death, God’s plan is for you to have hope.  His plan is for good and not for harm.

Blame God for your circumstances if you must–He is a big God and He can handle your anger and frustration.  But don’t lose faith.  Seek after Him with your whole heart and soon your hope will be restored.

PRAYER:  Father God, we come to you today to thank you for who you are, and to ask for your mercies upon us when our plans disappoint us.  Build us up in our most holy faith that we might not be devastated when our plans do not come together, but instead let us know, really know, that your plans are always for our good. Amen