God’s Plan For Your LifeSample

What happens when we don’t see God’s plan? 

In the Old Testament, Jeremiah was a prophet delivering a message from God to His people who had been exiled to Babylon. This certainly isn’t where they wanted to be. It wasn’t the plan. Instead of God rescuing them right away, He tells them to “build homes, and plan to stay” (Jeremiah 29:5 NLT) and to “work for the peace … of the city where I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:7 NLT)

A few verses later, God says, … “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.” Jeremiah 29:10 NLT (emphasis added) 

Seventy years! Most of us aren’t patient enough to wait for something for 70 seconds, let alone 70 years. 

All of that is the context of the very next verse that you’ve likely heard before: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

Here are three things about God’s plan you should know:

1.) Good plans can take time. God told the Israelites they would be in captivity for 70 years. A lot of the people hearing that message would never see the other side of that promise. Sometimes, it might feel like it’s taking forever for God to reveal His plan to you. The reality is that you may never see the full outcome of what God has for your life—you could be impacting generations down the road and not even know it!

2.) Waiting seasons aren’t wasted seasons. Notice that God didn’t tell the Israelites to just wait and do nothing for seventy years. He told them to work for the peace and prosperity of the city He sent them to. Wherever you are right now, God can use you! Don’t miss out on making an impact for the Kingdom now by waiting for a season God hasn’t put you in yet.

3.) His plans are good. Whatever season you find yourself in right now, the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 holds true: God does have good plans for you—plans for a future and a hope. It may not seem like everything is working out right now, but if you continue to trust God with your future, you’ll see good on the other side of it.