This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Most of us don’t have a problem believing God knows the plans He has for us. Of course He knows the plans. He’s God.
The problem for many of us is that WE don’t know the plans. God knows the plans and we want to know them, but God doesn’t always seem to be telling. Or what if He has been telling us, but we’ve missed it. Maybe it’s been as plain as day.
If everything is going well in our lives, I suspect a lot of us, myself included, aren’t as concerned about knowing God’s plans. Pleasant circumstances have a way of doing that to us. But when things aren’t going so well, when circumstances aren’t what we desired, hoped for or prayed for–well, then we’re much more interested in knowing God’s plans. Right away. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But right now.
We want God to fix things, to give us relief, to make the pain go away. It’s easy though to wrongly assume our current circumstances, because they’re painful or difficult, couldn’t possibly be what God had planned for us. But that’s not always the case.
In Hebrews 11, we read about the great faith displayed by Abraham, Moses, Noah, Rahab, David and others. They walked with and trusted God in the midst of their trials and difficulties. This is also the chapter that says: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
A life of believing God is lived by keeping our eyes on God, not our hard, painful or confusing circumstances. I’m not suggesting we don’t desire or pray for an improved situation. For those of us with medical issues–we want healing. If we have financial problems–we want God to provide a way out. If it’s a failing marriage or a rebellious child or some other relationship problem–we want God to bring reconciliation. And we want it all right now. I know I do.
But what if rather than seeking a way out, we seek a way through our circumstances WITH God. Because ultimately, God’s best plan for us is simply…Himself.