I Know the Plans I Have for You

Jer. 29:11-13

"For 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. Then 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."

What a great promise! When Israel's 70 years of exile were finished, God would visit them and do as He promised bringing great plans that included a future and a hope. Even though this promise was written for Israel, He has the same message for me. He has plans for me that include a future and a hope. Specifically, my future hope includes Jesus since "my citizenship is in heaven, and from it I await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform my lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself." What a glorious hope! I will be like Him because I will see Him as He is. This is something worth waiting for and worth living for.

When I think of His plans for me, I think of Rom. 8:28, "And we know for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Whatever He has planned for me will be for my good. Of course, my good is not always the path of easy living, instead, it is often the path of suffering since I am called to follow in Jesus' footsteps. Whether suffering or blessing, all that comes from His hand is for my welfare and my future. It is my hope because I can rest in it as His will for me. He counsels me to "Trust in Him with all my heart, and not to lean on my own understanding, in all my ways acknowledge Him , and He will make straight my paths." He tells me clearly that He knew me before I was. He saw my unformed substance, formed my days, and wrote them in His book. He know my plans because He made my plans! There are no surprises with God.

Finally, Israel did not seek God wholeheartedly; instead, they only went through the motions of worship. Because of their idol worship , God gave them over to Babylon where they became exiles from their homeland and from their God. Yet, God's heart longed for them to seek Him wholeheartedly. He assured them that when they did He would be found. The same goes for me. He desires my wholehearted seeking free of any idol worship, but the thing about idols is that they can be anything that my flesh clings to above God. Insidiously, they pose as seemingly good things that obstruct the narrow and focused path of wholehearted seeking. God wants me seeking Him and no other. He offers the greatest reward of all, finding Him.

Father,

Unite my heart so You are all I seek to know and to follow. Reveal my hidden idols so that nothing obstructs my search for You.

In Jesus name,

Amen