The Plan
Scott Bayles, pastor
Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 4/30/2017
Have you heard about the photographer for a national magazine assigned to get photos of a great forest fire? He was told to hurry to a nearby airport, where a plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, the plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air. “Fly over the north side of the fire,” yelled the photographer, “and make three or four low level passes.” “Why?” asked the pilot. “Because I’m going to take pictures,” cried the photographer. “I’m a photographer and photographers take pictures!” After a pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not the flight instructor?”
Sometimes life doesn’t go according to plan, does it? As the old saying goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!”
Plans are funny things. Most of the time, when we make them, we aren’t really the ones who control their outcomes. Sure, we can do our best to try and make them happen, but so much of our world—and our lives—are dictated by things outside of our control. We all encounter things in life that aren’t “supposed” to happen, things that weren’t part of the plan. You get a flat tire on the way to work. Your in-laws showed up unannounced. Your teenage daughter gets pregnant. The doctor calls with the worst possible news. The divorce papers arrive. Just when you think you’ve got life figured out, something happens that throws a monkey wrench into your plans. Whether it’s a consequence of something we’ve done or simply circumstances that are out of our control. Suddenly, plans change—and sometimes, they totally disappear.
But there is a promise—a single promise—in God’s Word that can meet every surprise or sudden change of plans head-on, and given enough time, it will resolve every problem. It’s an iron-clad, unfailing, all-encompassing, God-given guarantee that every single circumstance of life will sooner or later turn out well for God’s people. How many of you think that’s a promise worth exploring? Buried in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah (a book we hardly ever read) is this reassuring verse:
“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.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
This is one of those verses that makes it onto encouragement cards or even gets the highly honored name of “favorite verse.” I have a small sailboat sitting on my self with this verse inscribed on it. It’s a verse that’s so full of hope that we cling to it like a buoy in the stormy seas of life.
Like a precious jewel, this promise is multi-faceted reflecting the many colors of God’s grace and sovereignty. If you’ll let me, I’d like to highlight three facets of this promise and what they mean to those of us who cling to it.
First and foremost, this verse is about God’s plans!
• GOD’S PLANS
Notice the emphasis in the beginning of this verse: “For I know the plans I have for you…” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). Our plans and God’s plans are often two very different things, aren’t they?
The Bible is full of stories of people who experienced a change of plans. After the glorious exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were “supposed” to walk into the Promise Land—the home long-hoped for. After 39 years of wandering in the wilderness, it was clear, things were not going as they had planned. Mary and Joseph were “supposed” to get married and start a family and lead normal lives—but after an angel showed up with a mission from above, plans changed. Lazarus was “supposed” to be healed; after all, he was a close personal friend with Jesus himself. But after his sickness took a turn for the worse, suddenly his family realized, plans had changed.
Like them, we all have things that didn’t work out the way they were “supposed” to. Often the reason life doesn’t go according to plan is that God has other plans and his plans supersede ours. James knows all about that. In the New Testament, he writes to Christians scattered across the Roman empire:
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16 NLT)
Plans can be good, but when our whole life is shaped around our plans, suddenly we can become so focused on accomplishing them that we lose sight of God. Too often, our lives are dedicated to serving our own agendas. But as Christians, we are called to accomplish God’s goals. When we live our lives trying to achieve expectations that we determined, we put our plans over God’s and our plans become idols. Sometimes when we pray, we expect God to say, “Well Scott, I never thought of it like that!” We actually think we’re going to come up with a plan that impresses God. And, the thing about our plans is, they can always change. But God never does.
The Bible says, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail” (Proverbs 19:21 NLT). The best thing we can do when looking to the future or when life doesn’t go according to plan is let God be God. Align your life with His plans. Instead of trying to fit God into our plans, we need to fit into His.
Surrendering our plans to God’s isn’t easy. It means learning to let go and accept that I’m not the one in charge. I’m not in control. And sure we can all make plans about our future, but unless we seek God’s will first and align our plans with His, more than likely our plans won’t go according to plan.
So first and foremost, this promise is about God’s plan, not ours. Furthermore, this promise is about God’s people.
• GOD’S PEOPLE
Equally important as who forms the plan is who the plan is for. Notice this promise again. God says, “For I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). Four times, God says, “I have plans for you!” The question is—who is the you in this passage? The answer is—God’s people.
In the original context, these powerful words are part of a letter from the prophet Jeremiah to the Jews who had been exiled to Babylon. Their beloved city, Jerusalem, had been destroyed, and the people had been carted away from the land. Things could not have been much worse. Unfortunately, these were the consequences for their own sinful and selfish choices.
God’s people, the kingdom of Judah, disowned Him. They sacrificed their own children in the fire to another god, which seems like the most abhorrent sin I could ever imagine. So, I totally agree with God’s plans to clear the Promised Land of these despicable people who called themselves by HIS name, but lived like pagans. They were immoral, they were unjust, they disobeyed God’s direct commands, they killed His prophets, they thought they could get away with their sinful lifestyles without consequences. And finally, after years of putting up with this atrocious behavior, God is ready to bring the hammer down. He allows the city to be conquered and its citizens to be captured. BUT… he still had a plan for them because they were His people.
The same is true for us.
Maybe you’re in a mess of your own making. Maybe you’ve made a series of stupid and selfish choices and now you’re stuck living with the consequences. Or maybe it wasn’t your doing at all. Maybe your whole world fell apart through no fault of your own. But in either case—if the context of this passage teaches us anything—it’s this: When things seem to be the very worst they could EVER be, that’s the exact moment when God says, “I have a plan.”
And it’s not just God’s people on a whole that God has a plan for. It’s each person individually. In Psalm 139, David recounts the fact that God created him on purpose: “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16 NLT).
What does that mean? It means, first of all, that you are not an accident. You’re not a fluke of nature or a bi-product of astronomical random chance in the universe. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything he creates. Every plant and every animal was planned by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind. You were made by God and for God—until you understand that, your life will never make sense.
It also means regardless of what you’ve got written on your calendar, God has an appointment book with your name on it—a schedule He intends for you to keep. As the wise young Calvin—of Calvin & Hobbes fame—once said, “God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now, I’m so far behind I’ll never die!” Well, I’d say he’s half right.
God put you on this earth to accomplish certain things as part of his plan… for you! Even when the world seems to be falling apart or you make a mess of things, God has a unique plan for your life. And the best part is—it’s a really good plan.
Finally, this promise reveals the purpose behind God’s plans.
• GOD’S PURPOSE
There are certain key words within this promise that highlight God’ endgame—the purpose behind the plan: The Lord declares, “For I know the plans I have for you…They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).
God’s plotting for our good. In all the setbacks, He is ordaining the best for our future. Every event of our day is designed to draw us toward our God and our destiny. Remember that these words were spoken to a displaced, defeated, depressed group of exiles. They had hung their harps on the willow trees and lost their song. But with the Lord, things are never hopeless. God had a plan for the Israelites to return to Jerusalem, rebuild their homes and renew their covenant with God. In the meantime, they just had to hang in there and cling to God’s promise.
My kids learned a little something about that while we were on vacation. After two full days of driving, we finally arrived at Orlando, FL. We unloaded and relaxed the first night, but the next morning we loaded the kids back into the van and headed for the beach, which was an hour forty-five minutes away. The kids whined and complained. After two days of driving the last thing they wanted to so was spend another minute on the road. “Couldn’t we just go swimming at the pool?” they asked. “Just trust me,” I said. “It’s worth it.” It was a harrowing drive through heavy traffic, but the moment we reached the beach, you could see the kids faces light up. The endlessness of the ocean, the rhythmic waves, the white foam splashing over their feet—they were in awe. I asked the kids on the way back if it was worth the trip. My son said, “Dad, it was so worth it!”
Someday, you’ll say the same thing. In the meantime, we have to remember the journey is worth the destination. The New Testament reiterates this promise, saying, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT).
You are in the hands of the living, loving God! Your life is a crafted narrative written by a good God, working toward your supreme good. God is not making up a plan as he goes along. Nor did he wind up the clock and walk away. God’s purpose, plan and promise is to work out the events of human history and your life in particular for the good—to give you hope and a future, an eternity with Jesus.
Conclusion
Let’s face it—bad things happen and they happen with unpredictable frequency and varying levels of intensity. Some are mere inconveniences; others are life-shattering disasters. But no matter what happens, we can cling to the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 and trust in God’s plans and God’s purpose for God’s people.
Immediately following this promise, however, God makes a meaningful remark: “In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:12-13 NLT).
Ultimately, God’s plan for our lives isn’t about prosperity and everything being just wonderful. No, His plan is that we would seek Him. And so, I realize that God does have a plan for my life and that alone gives me great hope. But when the plan seems difficult, I am reminded that His plan for me always revolves around my relationship with Him. Whatever is going on in my life, His ultimate plan is that I would seek Him with all my heart. So that’s my advice to you.
Invitation
When life doesn’t go according to plan and even when it does—seek God with all your heart and trust His plan for your life. If I can help you, please talk with me—you can talk to me after church, call me at home, or come forward now as we stand and sing. Let’s sing together.
