Featured Scripture Reference
For I know the plans I have for you-this is the Lord’s declaration- plans for your welfare, not disaster, to give you a future and hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Historical and literal context of Jeremiah 29:11
The prophet Jeremiah communicated these words to the Nation of Israel before they were carried off into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Literally, in the previous chapter, the prophet had just pronounced judgment upon a false prophet for deceiving God’s people that their deliverance would be swift and that God would provide them a way back home.
The text disclosed that the people of God obtained this message while in the very presence of suffering, hardship, and doubt. God delayed His response due to the false prophets’ reports of a quick deliverance, even though God’s resolution of Israel’s captivity was predetermined by His promises that He has a divine plan to prosper them within their current situation.
God’s Rescue in Our Current Situation
Looking into the Text
For I know the plans I have for you-this is the Lord’s declaration- plans for your welfare, not disaster, to give you a future and hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Only our loving Creator knows the plans, purpose, and devices that are specifically used for His people either in times past, present, and future. This spiritual truth is for Israel and all non-Jewish people and nations. Look at what is the very Lord’s declaration toward all nations that lack His revolutionary wisdom:
Adonai brings to nothing the plans of nations, He foils the plans of the peoples. But the prudence of Adonai stands forever. His heart’s plans are for all generations. How blessed is the nation whose God is Adonai, the people He chose as His possession? Psalm 33:10
For it is not man’s utterances but the Lord’s revelations that accurately disclose the hidden spiritual arrangements that are purposed for God’s people. Only God has the divine honor to bless us with soundness of mind, completeness, and wholeness, even amid adversity and distress.
Oh, how wonderful it is that our Creator’s sovereignty is an essential aspect that defines His supreme authority and absolute power over all of His created order. And yes He is very much active and faithful, despite our perplexity doubt, and oftentimes, disbelief.
It has been stated that the moral malady of each human soul is two-fold, we elevate ourselves with vanity in times of prosperity, yet we diminish into despair during times of disappointments and grave sorrow. Yet the Holy Scripture says God works “all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11)
His divine plan for those who are in Christ, regardless of one’s present situation, shall manifest into a happy close of the abundant life that is promised to those who are righteous. God’s hope for us is radically different than the hope that we choose for ourselves. Hope in God is the divine expectancy that He has longed for each of us and delivers to us as His treasured possessions.
Quote
“No man has ever tested the resources of God until he tries what is humanly impossible”. -Anonymous
Worship God
Practical Application
The prophet Jeremiah reveals in verse 12 the most important responsibility and spiritual discipline of a God follower, we were created to worship our Creator at all times. God demands worship because He and He alone is worthy of it. He is the only being that truly deserves worship. He requests that we acknowledge His greatness, His power, and His glory in this life and the eternal life to come.
You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12
It is from our willingness to yield our hearts to God that those who are reborn in the Spirit worship Him as an expression of reverence and thanksgiving to Him. It is in our hearts that we are capable to be obedient to Him. With a contrite heart, each of us now can faithfully love Him and serve Him; while likewise extending that same love to others. When we worship with an obedient heart and an open and repentant spirit, God is glorified on earth as it is in heaven. Amen
Quote
“I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love. -Henry Ward Beecher
Grace and Peace
Brother Alonzo
