God Has A Plan
Jeremiah 29:11-12—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 upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
This world keeps getting messier every day. As you see this mess getting worse, it can be hard to believe that God is in control. That God does have a plan and that plan is still being carried out exactly according to his design.
It helps when you remember what God’s plan is all about. God’s plan is all about his desire to save you and bring you safely home to heaven. And on that journey, his plan includes plans to prosper you and not to harm you. That beautiful phrase of comfort contains a Hebrew word you probably all know, or at least are all familiar with—Shalom. Shalom is the common greeting of one Jewish person to another. It’s a word of blessing and well-wishes. Shalom means completeness, safety, soundness, health, prosperity, tranquillity, friendship, contentment… But at its heart and core, it means peace. The Lord promises you that his plans are to give you peace and not evil—peace, not distress—peace, and not to harm you.
I know it doesn’t always seem like it. Our experience would tell us otherwise. But our experience doesn’t show us the whole plan. The Apostle Paul reminds us: we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28). An anonymous poet described this beautiful truth in a poem titled The Weaver. In this poem, the author describes God’s plan as a tapestry. One side is beautiful, the other, a jumbled mess of thread.
Each one of our lives is a different tapestry that God is stitching and weaving together. He has a beautiful and perfect plan he is weaving your whole life through. In fact, the plan and his work of art began already in eternity before he created the world and will only be completed in your death and safe deliverance into heaven.
As you live here on earth, all you see is the backside. All too often you only see the mess. God sees and knows the beauty of what he is creating. This beauty you will see in full when you reach your heavenly home, but even now God sews golden threads that stand out in the mess. Golden threads that are especially clear moments of recognizing God’s grace and love in your life. Golden threads of mercy when you see so clearly your Savior Jesus who gave his life for you so that you would be assured of God’s forgiveness. Golden threads of sheer grace where God simply heaped his love upon you as he revealed to you all the more the depths of Jesus’ love for you. Golden threads as God answered prayers for strength and wisdom in difficult and trying times.
You see, your life is not about your plans. And thank God it isn’t about your plans! It’s all about God’s plan to get you safely home to heaven. That is the hope and future he has prepared for you!
Holding on to this beautiful truth, God says that you then will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Pray to your Lord. Pray that he will grant you the peace to trust him and his plan. Know that that prayer is heard by your God. Know that that prayer is answered by your God even if sometimes it may seem as though it isn’t. But don’t worry. He hears. He knows. He answers. He rescues. It’s all part of God’s plan.