Lessons: I Have Plans For You

Studying through the Major Prophets there are a few interesting themes alongside the destruction and wrath and the grace and sovereignty of God. One in Jeremiah begins the description of Judah as a 'prostitute' (eg 3:1) and then later as a virgin (eg 31:3,21). What an amazing thought that God can consider a nation that prostituted themselves as his 'Virgin Israel'; and that God's grace is not a weakness or naivety, a forgetfulness or lack of justice but is a complete forgiveness we can only begin to comprehend. Yes God can see us as wicked but he can also, and I believe more importantly, see us as blameless and beautiful in Christ Jesus. This makes me smile, this encourages me to live the way I should and this to me is much of what freedom is.

Another of many concerns this well know passage:

'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.'
Jeremiah 29:11

What's most interesting is the context; one of loneliness and persecution and contained within a letter written to some of those recently exiled as captives to the Babylonians and this message is directly preceded by:

This is what the LORD says: 'When seventy years (of exile) are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.'
Jeremiah 29:10

When people simply use this verse to encourage someone to do great things they are restraining the full message of this verse. The knowledge that even through punishment and difficulty God's plan is still outworking itself and we can still retain the promise of hope (looking to the future not just the present); this is a much more honest and beautiful message even though more difficult to accept.

The last I'm going to mention here is the overwhelming loneliness of Isaiah and Jeremiah (as this is only as far as I have reached) and yet their faithfulness in such unrelenting circumstances. Isaiah is told to present God's message to the people in full knowledge that they will reject it as well as him.

Go and tell this people:'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.
Isaiah 6:9-10

In Jeremiah he shares some of the details of his ministry saying:

For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
Jeremiah 25:3

How can we use our perspective of 'success' when we read such things. Twenty three years of a message falling on deaf ears doesn't really seem worth it. And seeing all the pain it brought Jeremiah makes it all the more contrasting. Maybe in each of these we should change our focus to; God's grace and not our failing, God's faithfulness in difficulty and not a false promise of constant sucess and have our faithfuness as a measure of success and not our worldly achievements.