Day 284

Jeremiah 16:16–18:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–5:3; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 25:6-8

“GOD HAS A PLAN.” Have you ever said or heard those words before? Usually, they are offered as a means of encouragement in the face of unexpected hardship. Does God have a specific plan for our struggles, though? And if He does, is it simply a mystery that no one can figure out?

When we consider God’s plan, it’s typically because we don’t like where we are, or we’re watching something awful unfold in the world. We’ll shake our heads and tell ourselves that God has a plan. We don’t understand it now, but all will be revealed in time.

Honestly, it’s easy to press into the idea that God has a plan, because it leaves us with an excuse. If the sorrows we face as individuals or as a group of people can all be attributed to God and His plan, then we have no culpability in anything. We can look at the mess we’ve made of things, or look at global events and reason, “This is not my fault. God has a plan.” Which essentially means that God is to blame for everything.

In our reading from Jeremiah, God spoke on His own behalf regarding this issue:

If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

Indeed, God has a plan —a perfect plan to restore humanity. But, according to God’s Word spoken through Jeremiah, human beings have a role to play in that plan. Our choices matter —as individuals and as the whole of humanity. And, according to Jeremiah, God is willing to change His plans accordingly.

Let’s consider this through the biblical concept of “sowing and reaping.” If we reap what we sow, then we can hardly chalk up a life full of weeds to God’s plan. We can’t plant selfishness or envy or immorality and expect it to yield the fruit of the Spirit.

God has a plan, and we are invited to collaborate with Him in bringing that plan into its full and redemptive completion. This happens in our personal lives as individuals and it happens as the whole body of Christ in this world. If there’s anything we’ve learned in the Scriptures this year, it’s that God desires a relationship with us.

God’s plan is not our excuse for being absent in our own lives. His plan is that we might fall in love with Him as He has fallen in love with us, and that we might collaborate with Him in bringing His Kingdom to others, awaiting the restoration of all things. That seems like a pretty good plan. Let’s fully live into it today.

MEDITATION:

Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.