For I know the plans...#BLESSED

In my many years of ministry, I cannot count the number of times people who have said Jeremiah 29:11 is their life verse or their favorite verse or some other inspirational verse for their lives.

11 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. 

I've heard the verse get used in many different contexts from a bad breakup to job loss, from getting a pay raise to getting the wrong coffee at Starbucks. The crises that confront us are all over the map. They impact people differently depending on national status, ethnic status, and economic status. Usually, we want to key in on the words prosper, hope, and future. I wonder, in this new crisis we face (i.e. Coronavirus), how these verses impact those same people who have adopted this "life verse."

Before we try to answer that question, as is the case for all crises, context of the scripture is still important. We have to first understand the lens through which these verses are read before we directly apply them to a sale I found at Target or a great parking spot I got downtown...#blessed!

So, let's take a look at what is spoken through the prophet Jeremiah before verse 11.

4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.

10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans...

Wait! Exile?!?! 70 years!?!?! Are you kidding me? But then, oh yeah, we turn a corner; because God knows the plans for us.

How do you begin to understand and experience God's plans for prosperity, hope, and future for us in the face of 70 years of exile (i.e. cut off from your destroyed homeland and under the oppression of a foreign empire)? Our imagination of what prosperity looks like may shift a bit when recognize what God is truly communicating to His people and where we find his people. We must define prosperity differently.

I'm not comparing 70 years of exile to what we currently face with COVID-19. Most of us don't truly know what being under an oppressive empire looks like--certainly not for 70 years (with the exception of those that experienced chattel slavery and Jim Crow in America). I'm also not wanting to dismiss the seriousness of our present situation. Disease and death are never good things.

One thing is for sure, though: our world has changed in a very short amount of time. But, if there's anything I will choose to take away from the passage, it's the contents of verses 5 and 7 (in my own words)

Do life here, now and seek peace where you are.

These are the cards we've been dealt for now. We don't know for how long and it's changing everyday; but in the moment, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be present and to be peacemakers. That requires we look outside of ourselves and our own prosperity, comforts, and consumption; and we pursue efforts that empower the people around us. That's truly #blessed! On the other side of this, we will trust that God continues to give us hope for the future he has set before us.




This content and other ministry is made possible because of the generosity of donors who give directly to LifeChurch Canton. If you'd like to continue to see more content and make an impact, partner with us through a generous gift or a recurring gift by going to our site. Thank you so much.