October 17
Jeremiah 27-29
Psalm 116:12-19
Proverbs 25:8-10
Philemon 1
God’s Plan or Our Agenda
“’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. Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.’” Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV
This is one of the most known and quoted verses in the Bible. I’m afraid that it is often claimed by people who do not understand it. This was a promise given to the children of Israel when they were in captivity in Babylon. This is not a promise given to everyone in the world. However, it does contain a principle that we can all rely on and follow. The problem is that many people stop with verse 11. The Lord does have plans for each of us. He created us each with a specific and unique purpose. They are plans to prosper us and not to harm us. They are plans to give us hope and a future. Unfortunately, many people do not want to follow His plans for their life. They want Him to follow their plans. They want God to rubber stamp all the things that they want and make it go smoothly. They want Him to prosper them and make their lives easy. God’s plans are rarely easy. His goal is not to give us a leisurely life with no difficulty or pain. As we saw yesterday, God’s plan is to transform us into the person that He wants us to be. His goal is to sanctify us. Often, that is painful. Shaping us, molding us, and purifying us usually does not involve giving us everything we want. In fact, it usually involves teaching us, training us, and disciplining us. That may not seem pleasant at the time. While it is happening, it may not feel like He is prospering us or blessing us. When we look back on it later, hopefully we can see the benefit of not getting what we asked for, but sometimes this side of Heaven we can’t understand.
Verses 12 and 13 explain the process. We call on God, come to Him, pray to Him, and He listens to us. We seek Him with all our hearts and when we do that, we find Him. When we seek Him and His plan, then He reveals His plan to us. If we are not seeking Him, we will not find His plan. If our hearts are not humble and teachable, we will likely miss His plans all together. If we have the idea that we have it all figured out, take our plans to Him, and expect Him to make them work, we are likely to be disappointed. That is not how it works. He already has it all figured out. He knows what is best for us. He knows all the things He has planned for us to accomplish. He knows how we fit into His big picture. His plans are far better than any that we could come up with, but we must be willing to submit to Him. These verses require humility. They require that we set aside our own agenda and seek His agenda. They require obedience.
Comments