devotional - day 3

Jeremiah 29:11 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.

God’s plans. At times he reveals bits of the plans well ahead of time and the steps to take seem clear, while other times it’s just an idea you know is from God but how on earth is it going to happen and the details of the plan are revealed one lighted step at a time. 

This is where the “not to harm you” bit of this verse comes in handy. It is reassuring to know when you can’t see the path ahead of you on a planned journey of God’s that he has no intention of letting you unknowingly step off a cliff. And that the next sentence is simply restating more directly the obvious reassurance of the sentence before. 

That reassurance is ever so lovely. This is probably why it is such a popular verse for so many (including myself) to hang onto. That whatever plan God is presenting for you will be goodness and not destruction. That going along with God’s plan really is the better option. I know this from experience. Not doing it God’s way caused incredible pain for myself and others. 

However, believing in the goodness of God can be hard. When you’re first learning to hear God, that struggle to believe what you’re hearing is really from him and to trust it can be enormously difficult. When life has shown you not to believe that good things can happen and then God says “oh but they can if you do it my way. I’m about goodness and love and let me lavish you with them. All you need to do is do it my way”, it just seems too extraordinary. Too good to be true. Then again, what have you got to lose? Maybe just maybe trying to do it God’s way will actually make things better, because doing it your way certainly did not. Why not try? 

So you do. You do try and you hang onto Jeremiah 29:11 to give you hope while you submit to doing it God’s way. Trust that God will surprise you with his goodness. Because I promise you he will.