He Knows Our Plans: Part Two

Date: February 28, 2008

When was the last time you had an unsettling day? Emotions seemed to be running into overdrive? You had your day planned, and nothing seemed to go as planned. Events were crashing into your life and making it a royal mess. I trust you will derive hope from the fact that God's plans are not only known, eternal, continual, but they are also settled. Last time we investigated some encouraging thoughts from the book, "Liberating Your Ministry From The Success Syndrome", by Kent and Barbara Hughes. We unpacked Jeremiah 29:11. In it God says, "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, " plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope." We saw how God's plans are known, eternal and continual.

We move to another encouraging aspect of God's plan; His settled plans for our lives. This truth can eliminate tons of unnecessary worry, and eradicate mountains of needless cares. It can help us be an example to unbelievers and our families. God's plans for us are settled. What does this entail? Essentially, it deals with the fact that God's plans do not change as ours do. God is not fickle. He is not characterized by erratic changeableness like the wind. He is not capricious or unstable like the ocean. When you are confused and do not know your mind, God does. He knows precisely His mind concerning you. When you feel like you know nothing (I have that thought sometimes), God knows His own mind concerning you. When you know nothing at all, God knows all.

Now, take the facts that we have assembled from the phrase in Jeremiah 29, "I know the plans I have for you." What are they saying? What are they revealing about God and our daily life? They are instructing us about the exhaustive scope of His plans for us. Hughes writes, "His plans are known to Him, when everything is confusing to us. His plans are eternal, preceding time. His plans are continual as He is always thinking of what is best for us. And His plans are settled, solid, dependable." That sums it up excellently! How comprehensive. It means that His plans are adequate. His plans are adequate, when you are facing a situation that seems bigger than the Great Wall of China. His plans are adequate when your mind is like a race car, driving into the future with unrealistic exaggerations. God knows exactly what He is doing with every detail of your life. If God causes all things to work together for good, then He is using, the good, the bad, sin, and even tragedy to accomplish His purposes. God knows what He is doing with you and in you. If you can't trust how He is writing the story of your life, trust the heart of the One who has authored God's love letter to you. I have many ways I doubt God's plans for my life. Knowing that His plans are settled gives me hope. Acknowledge where you disbelieve His settled promises. Seek the great grace readily available through Christ at Calvary. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you apply His Word. Remember, if you know Him, He is never unsettled toward you. Because you are in Christ, God loves to love you. He knows what He is about when you are unsettled. One writer put it this way,

How He bends but never breaks
When our good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses
And with every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out-
God knows what He's about

So my friends, embrace these precious words from Jeremiah. Allow them to fill your heart with hope, and your mind with peace. If the day doesn't go as planned, live it to the fullest anyway. Our unsettled plans will never thwart his settled plans for us. That settles it!

From my heart,

Rick Hoppe