Day 2585 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
In case you didn't know, our plans don't always work out like we've envisioned. Surely you've noticed that. But if you haven’t, well, get ready because it’s gonna happen at some point. The thing is that we're called to have faith, and having faith only works when we're heading into situations and circumstances that we're not ready for. God doesn't call us to sit around and dream up our version of a perfect life. He calls us to lay down our goals, dreams, and desires in exchange for the plans He has instead.
And the hard part is that His plans are different. His way is harder. His path leads through storms we'd rather avoid and battles that we would typically choose to run from. His plans for us don't revolve around the things that our plans are based on. Our plans are for our success, our comfort, our glory. His plans are for His glory. And friends, sometimes what brings Him glory isn't anywhere close to what we'd choose.
This is one of those verses, maybe the most common of them all, that people use to feel all warm and fuzzy. And in many ways it is one of those uplifting and hopeful verses. But we need to be careful just how far we lean toward that comfy and cozy way of thinking. We can't afford to build our faith on this idea that everything is going to work out how we want it to and be just perfect in our opinions. Doing so will only lead to a shattered faith when God's plans vary from our ideals.
The fact is that this verse was a message given to people heading into something they wouldn't have chosen. It was delivered to a people being forced from their homes, from their routines, from everything they'd ever known. This verse was something given to a group of people heading into exile to a foreign land, probably never knowing if they'd ever see their homes again. Not easy. Not comfortable. Not ideal.
That's how God's plans work. They don't take into account what we want or what we think is best. No, His plans are to accomplish what He needs done in order to further the work that He began and help us learn to walk by faith all along the way. Again, we don't need to rely on faith when everything makes sense. We don't grow when it's all easy. We grow when it's raining. We learn through facing trials. We move closer to God when all we have left after our plans have gone up in smoke is the hope that He still has something in store.
Faith isn't a ticket to a perfect life. It's a reminder that even when life is falling apart that God is using those crumbling pieces of shattered dreams to build a promise that we can't see yet. It's knowing that even when nothing makes sense to us, it's all still in the hands of a God who came to this earth and died to prove how much He loves us. That's the part we can't forget. That's the part to always hold on to when life goes differently than we want it to go.
Folks, nobody knows what tomorrow holds. We don't even know what the rest of today has in store. There's going to be good. Going to be bad. We're going to go through some struggles. Things will get weird, and shaky, and uncertain, and far from what we've long dreamed of. But it's all part of God's plan. Even the messy parts. Faith and hope are what see us through, not getting our way.
Our way may be perfect in our eyes, but it can't compete with what awaits us some day in the future when we get to look back and see all the trials that God led us through and finally realize how much better off we are because of them.
P
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