God Has a Plan For You 2020 12 27
Jeremiah 29:4 – 11
There is an old cliche that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It’s easy when things aren’t perfect to get thinking that if we just had that job or just lived in such and such a place or if we won the lottery or got over our health problems or had better government, or the 2020 pandemic would just end, everything would be better, and life would be wonderful. Unfortunately, we human beings all too easily get caught up in being dissatisfied with our lives, certain that if our circumstances would just change, we could be happy and as Christians, perhaps serve God better. If God would only change our situation, we could serve Him faithfully. Perhaps that’s the way the Jews felt, when they were taken in captivity to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar after he sacked Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 29:4 – 11
This was in a letter sent by Jeremiah to a group of people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon as captives. The people of Jerusalem lived in rebellion against God for many years. They were warned repeatedly by God through His prophets that judgment was coming. When it finally did come, they had no intention of submitting quietly to foreign rule. This letter from God via the hand of the prophet Jeremiah showed them (and us) that God has a plan for you, even when things look their worst. One thing that is certain is that His plan does not include rebelling against authority wherever we live, though we may well and even righteously disagree with them.
I Live There! Vv 4 – 6
- Live where God has put you. If you’re not sure you’re where God wants you to be, take it to Him in prayer. Don’t just move. Stay put unless and until you’re sure God wants you to go somewhere else.
- Stay where you are and put down roots. God has a plan for you. Wait on Him and learn what it is. Read your Bible and pray daily. God will direct you. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Psalm 3:5,6
II Seek Peace v 7
- Right now, there is terrible unrest in our neighbour to the south. Some people are very unhappy with the official election results and are threatening to take up arms. Many of them claim to be Christians.
- What happened doesn’t seem right. It looks like there might have been some massive cheating. There are lawyers, politicians, and poll watchers who are claiming there was.
- But there is a peaceful way to work through these things via the courts. Of course, things are not always settled on the side of the plaintiffs. That is the price of living in a peaceful and civilized society.
- The present situation in the United States is very sad. The country is deeply divided. Some people are even claiming they are going to move to Canada!
- Even sadder is the witness of those who claim to be Christians, while calling for armed insurrection. They claim to be Christians who love God, yet they are not doing what God tells us to do.
- God says, “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” These were God’s instructions to the Jews carried away to Babylon. The Jews were determined never to quietly submit to foreign rule, but God told them to do just that. God’s character is the same today as it was then.
- Seek peace where God has put you. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” Romans 13:1,2
- It is not God’s plan for us to rise up and take up arms against our governments, but to live peacefully as much as possible as a witness and a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ in our community. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” 1Peter 2:13 – 16
III Don’t Listen to False Teachers vv 8,9
- There are many false teachers and so called prophets in the world, and there are only going to be more as we approach the end. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2Timothy 4:3,4
- Just as the days right before Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed Jerusalem, there are many preachers and teachers who proclaim what people want to hear – health, wealth and prosperity – but God says not to listen to them.
- God says these people prophesy falsely in His name. He has not sent them. It doesn’t matter how good they look, it doesn’t matter how well they preach, it doesn’t matter how large their congregations are or how many books they have written. Don’t listen to them.
- In these days we are in, don’t be surprised by the sheer number of false teachers and preachers who either aren’t preaching the word of God, or who wrest the scriptures to say something other than what God really said. “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,” 2Peter 3:1 – 3
- Just as in the last days before the destruction of Jerusalem, there are many false prophets in the world in these last days, lying to people and speaking falsely in God’s name. God has not sent them!
IV God Has a Plan for You vv10,11
- Just as God had a plan for the Jews in exile in Babylon, God has a plan for you. Just because you can’t see the end from where you are doesn’t in any way weaken God or take away from His plan for you. “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)” 2Corinthians 5:7
- We walk by faith, not by sight, because we can’t see the big picture from our perspective… But God can. When we walk by faith, we put our faith in God to take care of the future and guide us according to His will, purpose and plan. We trust that He has a plan for us.
- God is thinking about you! “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God has a plan for you and it’s a good plan. It is a plan wrapped up in thoughts of peace, not evil, with an expected fulfillment.
- The LORD told the Jews in Babylon that it was going to be seventy years before God returned them to their own land. For human beings, seventy years is a long time! We have a hard time waiting for dinner! But God sees from eternity and has a plan for you that is right, perfect, and exactly on time.
Conclusion
- God has a plan for you. No matter what you may find yourself going through, be sure that God has a plan for you and is working it out in His time. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:28,29 God has your future in His hand. He is in control of everything that’s going on, no matter what it looks like. (For we walk by faith, not by sight.) God is going to bring you through faithfully, and in the end, you are going to be made like Jesus Christ. Seek the peace of the place where you are and pray for it, for in the peace thereof shall you have peace. God has a plan for you, and will fulfill it in the end. Trust Him and continue walking by faith as we enter 2021.