The Plans I have

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

Anyone ever head this wonderful verse from Jeremiah 29 before? It actually is a wonderful verse, as it demonstrates God's faithfulness to Israel. One of my favorite professors*, Phil Collins, says that this is one of the most misquoted verses in the entire Bible. Today when I was talking with one of my students, I got some better perspective on why.

If you read the verse in context you see that God basically says "stay put in Babylonian captivity, settle down, plant a garden, get married, and settle in for the long haul because you aren't going anywhere for at least 70 years. So why don't you just be faithful and do the best you can with what you have.

In case you didn't know, Americans are obsessed with the idea of individualism, and the idea of instant gratification. We love it. That's why we have personalized little devices that carry all our favorite music, we are positive that everyone wants to read our facebook pages (and our blogs) and we can customize everything from our academic majors to our drink at starbucks. All of which is available on the internet instantly.

So God tells his people, as a nation, to stay faithful and wait. Pass the faith onto future generations, because this generation is going to live in captivity. We have taken this as individuals to mean "God is going to lead me to some awesome calling, and after a tough ride, I am going to experience something great. This verse promises me that he has a happy plan just for me."

Notice how, in the case of Israel, God TOTALLY keeps his promises, delivers on what he says he will do, and remains faithful to a people who do not deserve it. God is the real deal, and no one is calling that into question. He really did have a plan for the Israelites, and it came true. And yet, the majority of people who originally heard this prophecy probably died slaving away in Babylonian captivity.

I know that we give the Israelites a hard time for turning their backs on God. I'm not sure how they responded to this, but I know how we would respond in today's America. Not positively.

I believe in God and his plan. I really do. But I would not be surprised not only if His plan looked different than mine (which we seem to understand) but also that it might not even look like anything that resembles a "plan" in my understanding of the word. God's ways are higher than my ways, his thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and I think that his plans might just be higher than my plans. Qualitatively as well as quantitatively.


*I just said ONE of my favorites, I still have room in my heart for Tim.