The Plans I Didn’t Expect

"‘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 (NIV)

We often quote this verse as a feel-good promise, but it was spoken to a people in exile, grieving all they’d lost. God doesn’t offer a quick escape. He offers something more enduring: presence in the in-between, and purpose even in displacement.

We long for clarity. But God says, “I know the plans.” Not “you know.” Not “they’ll make sense now.” But I know.

This doesn’t mean we sit back passively, waiting for divine rescue. God’s plans always invite our participation. Just a few verses later, He says: “Then you will call on me… You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:12-13)

That’s the paradox of divine sovereignty and human freedom. God initiates the plan but waits for hearts willing to walk it. Our choices matter. Faith is not just receiving the promise, but living into it, even in places we didn’t expect to be.

And what about “prosperity”? In the biblical sense, it isn’t wealth or comfort—it’s shalom: wholeness, purpose, restoration. God is promising more than success—He's promising a future with hope, rooted in relationship with Him.

So maybe the real invitation here is to trust that even in exile, even in uncertainty, we’re still held in a story bigger than ours. And we’re not just passengers; we’re participants.

God, who holds the future, you see beyond what I can grasp. Give me the courage to trust when I can’t see, and the strength to say “yes” to your plans. Teach me to seek you with my whole heart, to live faithfully where I am, and to believe that prosperity means wholeness, even when my circumstances feel broken. Amen.

Shalom,

Pastor Tim