May 15 - Jeremiah 29:11

“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.”

Jeremiah 29:11

For two days, we’ve looked at Jeremiah. For two days, we’ve heard warning and judgment.

Let’s let today’s verse be our final word from Jeremiah for a few days!

• God has plans for you.
• They are good.
• He wants you – and all people – to prosper.
• Harm is never his intent.
• God wants to give you hope.
• God wants to bless you with a glorious future.

That’s awesome news. But think … for two days, we heard warning and judgment. If God’s plans are good, why does God seem angry and judgmental?

Why? Because he loves us … and because we create our own destruction. We go on deadly paths. We fight the wrong battles. We forsake God’s wisdom and guidance. And we constantly lead others astray.

Is God loving if he lets us wander into quicksand and fall off steep cliffs? No! Like a loving parent, God wants to steer us toward the paths of life.

But he’s not a dictator. He may occasionally bring about corrections – some big, most small – and those occasions grow more frequent the more we follow him … but ultimately, he gives us our free will. We’re free to walk off the cliff, in spite of all God’s guard rails and warning signs. (And he grieves as much as you do.)

With all that said … I guess the secret to life is getting out of our own way, and discovering the plans he has for us.

In Christ’s Love,

A guy whose wife always says,

“God’s way is the best way”