God's Plans, Not Ours

"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


One of my favorite Scripture verses is Jeremiah 29:11.  It is God telling us that He has our future under control.  He has already planned it for us.


How many times do we try to make situations in our lives go our way?  When we do it on our own, without God's help, things can quickly fall apart.  We are only human and we are far from perfect.


Why are we so afraid to fully trust God?  I know I like to be in complete control of everything.  I want everything planned out, as far in advance as possible, and I don't want anything to hinder me from completing my task.


But life isn't about keeping things under our control.  There's always going to be unplanned circumstances.  There's always going to be something to make our plans go awry.


For I know the plans I have for you...God knows!  When will we learn to give up our control and let God take over?  Why does it take so many failed attempts of a perfect plan on our part before we finally give it over to God?


...plans to prosper you and not to harm you...God is not a God of evil.  God wants to see his children happy, with every need provided.  He doesn't delight in our suffering, but rejoices when we allow Him to care for us.


...plans to give you hope and a future.  I know letting God take control of my plans, my life, is not easy.  It's hard for me to give up what I have already envisioned for my life.  But when I do, when I let God fully take over, plans fall into place, obstacles are no longer so difficult, and everything is even better than I could hope for.