WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE by Andrew Menkis Core Christianity
The great architect Daniel Burnham is reported to have said, “Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” These words are hardly surprising coming from a man famous for being one of the first to develop skyscrapers. He is right. A large, ambitious plan can inspire us and spur us on to action.
One of the Old Testament’s most commonly cited verses is Jeremiah 29:11: “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.” In fact, I have a coffee mug and a journal with this very verse imprinted on them. These are too often taken out of context and used to teach that God wants to bless you; that he wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and happy all the time. Aside from glossing over parts of the Bible that talk about persecution and suffering, the problem with this application is not that it promises too much but that it missed God’s much bigger promise.
This promise made to Israel in Jeremiah 29:11 was fulfilled. They returned home from the Babylonian exile, yet when we see this passage in light of the big picture that God has a plan of salvation for the nations, we see that what God’s promise is far better than what we can dream.
Now is your chance to support Gospel News Network.
We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
As we read the pages of the Bible we discover a plan that is far greater and more inspiring than any other. God has big plans that ought to stir our blood!
1. God’s plan is older than we can imagine.
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to two men as they walked to the city of Emmaus. They were deeply engrossed in conversation, so Christ asked them what they were talking about. Astonished that he had not heard, they told him they were discussing Jesus, what he taught and did, and his crucifixion. They hoped that he would be a savior, but the fact that he was dead definitively put an end to any chance of that…yet they had heard rumors of an empty tomb and stories that Jesus had been seen alive! As they explained this to Jesus, they failed to recognize that the man they were talking about was the man they were talking to.
