I know the plans...

One of the popular verses among Christians right now is Jeremiah 29:11:

"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."

This a great thought. They are comforting words. They are written on graduation plaques, sympathy cards, passed from friend to friend during difficult times, prayed over others and cherished during troubling circumstances.

Can I suggest that many people read it this way? "Let me share the plans I have for you," says the LORD, "plans to make you prosperous without a care in the world, plans to give you hope for the future."

It's not quite the same thing, is it? A speaker I heard this weekend reminded us that God says "I know the plans ..." God knows His plan. We might not always get to see it. But as we learn to trust in His plan, whether He shares it or not, we will have hope. Not hope like we're standing with our fingers crossed or tossing a penny into a wishing well, but hope that is an expectation, a confidence. And we can have the confidence that He is working for our best, not for our convenience. Our hope, our trust, our confidence must be firmly rooted in the Plan Maker or our future will look bleak indeed.

Can I also make another suggestion? We can't hold this verse up as a promise of God without reading the rest of the passage. God was writing specifically to the nation of Israel that was living in exile.

What do I see? I see some expectations that God had for the people who needed to be assured of His plan for their lives.

"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jeremiah 29: 5-7)

Go ahead, He says, participate in family and community life. Pray for your city and work for peace. But then He reminds them of the most important part - without a relationship, without knowing the God who held their days, without knowing His word and His voice for themselves, they could not have the same hope for their future. They would be deceived by the voices around them. Just as we can be deceived if we not go straight to the source ourselves.

"Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD. " (Jeremiah 29: 8-9)

But here's the best part of the Jeremiah 29 promise:

"Then you will call upon 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. I will be found by you," declares the LORD..." (Jeremiah 29:12-14a, emphasis mine)

What difference does it make? The Amplified Version calls it "hope for your final outcome." And that's when I remember God's plan to "prosper" me. His plan is for me to spend eternity with Him - in a mansion, no less! So I'll trust the Plan Maker to know what's best for me and hold my expectation in Him.

Not sure you have that expectation? Here's a great place to learn more about God's plan to give you the hope and the future that He planned for you.