Sometimes life just doesn’t go the way you’d planned. You map it all out – the career, the family, the retirement dream – and then out of nowhere something knocks you off course.
Before inventing the light bulb, Thomas Edison had had thousands of failed experiments. Reporters mocked him, “Why do you keep going after so many disasters?” His reply? “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” What others thought of as failure … He saw as part of the plan.
God’s people, back in the Prophet Jeremiah’s day, must’ve felt like failures too – dispossessed of their land, exiled in Babylon, far from home, far from the temple, the dwelling place of their allegedly invincible God, far from everything that had once given them security.
But right in the middle of their pain, God speaks:
Jeremiah 29:11 “I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord.” I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.”
That wasn’t written as some catchy Instagram meme. It was written to a broken, displaced people. Yes, Israel was eventually restored to the Promised Land. But God was ultimately promising Himself as well. He was promising that His good plans would one day be fulfilled – plans that came to life in Jesus.
Because in Him, you already have the future God promised. Eternal life. Forgiveness. Hope that cannot be shaken. So when your own plans fail … don’t panic. God’s plan in Christ is still on track. And His plan is always good.
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
