For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm You are probably very familiar with this verse. It is quoted often to us in times when we don’t know what is coming next. I know that I have heard it many times. I have often flipped to Jeremiah 29 just to read that eleventh verse. However, when I read it I always imagine it differently.
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| Bye 2012, Wish you a happy new year, 2013!!, a photo by "The Wanderer's Eye Photography" on Flickr. |
In day to day life, we are always making plans. We have calendars, day planers, and electronic organizers to keep us to the plan. Yet, our plans often change or are changed for us. Things happen, meetings are cancelled, coworkers call in sick. In short, our plans not always what happens. So when I read Jeremiah 29:11, I like to put the word a different word in place of the word plans. God’s plans for us never change. They are not like our plans that have to constantly be adjusted. God’s plans were worked out before the foundation of the world. That is why I like to use the word destiny when referring to the plans God has for us.
Your destiny is not something that changes, no matter what you do. God’s destiny for each of us is something he mapped out for us before the world began (Ephesians 1:3-8). His Destiny for us is not changeable, and it is to give us hope and a future. Next time you fill worried or discouraged about what is coming next, read Jeremiah 29:11 and replace the word plans with the word destiny.
For I know the destiny I have for you,” declares the Lord, “a destiny to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
--This guest post was written by Sarah Holman. Sarah is a not so typical mid-twenties girl: A homeschool graduate, sister to six awesome siblings, and author of three published books and counting. If there is anything adventuresome about her life, it is because she serves a God with a destiny bigger than anything she could have imagined. You can connect with her through her blog thedestinyofone.blogspot.com.
