August 8, 2023
God’s plans may not always make us glad, but they are good! His plans may not always seem pleasant, but they are perfect! Paul describes the will of God as being “his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). When we see it to be good and we acknowledge it to be perfect, we will discover it to be pleasing. Sometimes the plans of God have taken His people through pain and suffering as they have allowed themselves to be the means of His will being accomplished.
The Lord Jesus Himself went through agony as He ruthlessly carried out the will of His Father with no regard for His own comfort. In the Garden of Gethsemane, shortly before His crucifixion, He said to His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38), and then He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).
We must be honest and we must be realistic. There is a price to pay for obedience. It takes us to the front line of the battle with Satan and his cohorts, and we are not exempt from danger, tears, or pain. But through it, beyond the immediate suffering, beyond the unanswered questions, beyond the pain of battle, there is good that God is accomplishing, and it is perfect, and when we see the whole picture, there will be no doubt that it is pleasing. …
Job, who suffered as much as anyone in the Old Testament, had no idea of what God was allowing to take place in his experience, and although he said he could not see God anywhere at the time, he … stated at the beginning of his kaleidoscope of troubles, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10). God’s ultimate work is good, and its ultimate effect is good.
We have to see God’s working on a wider canvas than that which has to do with our own comfort and good. What God does with me personally may be for the good of someone else and primarily for the good of God. That of course is good for us too, when we begin to live for the benefit of God and others as a primary concern.
I want to be realistic. To be surrendered to God does not mean everything is going to be comfortable. A Christian is not exempt from difficulties. If anything, he is equipped for them. He is able to go through life knowing that nothing touches him without the permission of God, and that he is in business not to be comfortable and cozy but to be effective and significant in God’s overall purposes. The hardships, the difficulties, and the tears are not the end of the story, for God is working out something good, something perfect, and something pleasing.—Charles Price1
God has a purpose and plan for you. His plans are sure, true, and faithful. This doesn’t mean that you will never experience problems or trials in life, but you do have an eternal future in Christ spiritually. God’s plan for you is to prosper and grow spiritually in Christ in the very situation you are in right now. ...
Many people focus on verse 11 [in Jeremiah 29]: ‘“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.’” And they think God does not care about them when some trouble comes their way. When in fact it is quite the opposite. Many times we cannot understand what God is doing.
This verse is not intended to give you the idea that the Lord will keep you from ever being tested or from having a future without difficulty. It is not a verse that implies that you will not experience physical harm, sickness, relational troubles, employment layoffs or any number of circumstances that can come against you in this life. Rather, this is a word that is speaking of spiritual blessings and plans of God that are greater than any physical blessing and future here on earth. It is a word that speaks of a hope and a future that the people of God (the Christian) can have in Christ.
Don’t try to force your plans or shortcut God’s plan or timing. Throughout scripture God’s desire is the redemption of all mankind. It is for the people of God to have fellowship and eternal life with Him. God’s plan for you is the same; it is to prosper and grow spiritually in Christ. His plan to give you a hope and future has never changed. Your hope and future are in Jesus. All creation’s hope and future are in Jesus.
God has made the mystery of salvation known to you, that He purposed in Christ. You have a hope and future in Jesus. A hope and future of eternal life with Him in glory. A hope and future that is beyond anything you know or understand.
Do not put your hope in this life. Do not place your hope in what you can do with your hands. The situation you are in will not last forever. Look to the Lord, where your hope and help come from. …
You have a hope and a future in Christ. … Regardless of your mistakes or the difficulty that comes your way, God has a purpose for you. No matter what happens, God is in control and He will continue to draw you back to the plan for your life.—Richard Rogers2
In one of ancient Israel’s most difficult and discouraging times, God said to them, “The plans I have for you [are] to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
The nation of Israel whom God had given the Promised Land to, and whom He said were His people, and for whom He set up His temple in which He dwelt and where they were able to worship Him, were all defeated by the kingdom of Babylon. The land was taken away, the temple was destroyed, and the majority of the people were forced to relocate to Babylon. The promises of God seemed to be rescinded due to their sins. They no longer possessed the Promised Land. They were without a temple, and they didn’t know how to worship and how to find forgiveness of sins without the temple. They struggled with the question of whether God still loved them. Were they still His people? Their dreams and their faith and their hope were all totally shattered.
During this defeat and disappointment, the prophet Jeremiah wrote them a letter and sent it to Babylon, and he told them what God had to say to them at that time when their faith was in crisis. He told them to carry on with life, to build houses, plant gardens, get married, have children, and that in His time God would deliver them from their situation, that He would bring a change for the better. He didn’t promise that it would happen today, but He did promise that it would happen. He said, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. You will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11–13).
Shattered hopes and dreams are not final destinations. God says He has plans for you, plans for good and not for evil. One Bible version translates it as, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
God doesn’t desert us in our times of disappointment. Instead, He’s there. He’s thinking good thoughts of us. He has plans for our future. He wants us to carry on with life and not give up, to have hope for what’s ahead, even if things seem so awful today. The key is to look to Him, to know that He loves and cares for us, that He will carry us into the future. We aren’t meant to stop living, to give up hope, but rather to carry on in faith and trust. He will heal. Things will change. Life will continue on, and there is hope ahead.
It’s good to remember that there are times when something looks like a great defeat, a terrible and permanent loss, which makes you feel you can’t possibly recover it, but often there’s more to the situation than meets the eye. Sometimes God works very mysteriously, in ways that we can’t comprehend.
A lot depends on how we respond to disappointments. Do we rise to the occasion and fight?—Trusting to see good and blessings from a God who loves us? Or do we wallow in pity and whine? As Rick Warren talked about in The Purpose Driven Life, during times of tribulation, we should “pray fewer ‘Comfort me’ prayers”—you know, the kind, “Lord, help me to feel good” type prayers—“and more ‘Conform me’ prayers.” In other words, “Use this to make me more like You, Jesus.”
We don’t always see all that God sees. He may very well be answering our prayers in ways that we don’t yet comprehend. Don’t lose faith. God will not fail; He will keep His word. His plan might be different than what we expect, but He does all things well. You may not see your answer for some time, but nevertheless we should keep our faith and trust in God and not give up. His plans for those who love and follow Him are plans of good and not evil.
Remember: God loves you. He’s on your side. He has your best interests at heart. No one’s more powerful than God, and no one loves you more than God does.—Peter Amsterdam
Published on Anchor August 2023. Read by Carol Andrews. Music by Michael Fogarty.
1 Charles Price, Christ for Real (Marshalls, 1985).
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