Jeremiah 29:11-12 (ESV)
11 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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
Jeremiah 29:11 is a well-known verse, frequently spoken in declaration over the lives of Christians attesting to the love and hope we have in the Lord. The Bible is the living Word of God, and it is amazing how we can learn something new from a verse we’ve heard a thousand times. Often, reading the preceding and following passages can help shed light on the meaning of a verse.
While many Christians are familiar with, “For I know the plans I have for you…”, Jeremiah 29:12 is not as popular, yet it carries significant illumination of Jeremiah 29:11. Verse twelve begins, “THEN you will call on me…” constructing a cause and effect scenario. It’s as if God is saying, “If you do what I ask in verse 11, then you will receive what I have for you in verse 12.” We are being called to trust the plans God has for us and to believe wholeheartedly in His loving character. We need to have faith that He desires good things for us.
Know that His plan is the best for you, better than your own thoughts and plans. Trust that His timing is perfect, beyond any personal timeline you have. Believe that He is good and that He will carry you safely through your trials if you only rely on Him. Have confidence in the wonderful heart and nature of God and His purpose for your life, even when you cannot see it. When we fulfill the command to trust God THEN we will call upon Him and come and pray to Him, and He will hear us. Our relationship with our Father in Heaven starts with our trust, our faith, our surrender.
Trusting God isn’t always easy, not because of who He is but because of who we are. Today, I encourage you to take the plans you have for yourself in your relationships, businesses, professions, families, and in your deepest hopes and dreams, and lay them down at the foot of the cross. Know that God’s plan for you IS to give you a hope and a future, but that His plan may look different than your own. Believe that He is who He says he is. Practice trusting in what you cannot see and open your hearts, looking for where He is working in your life.
