Author: Niki

Oh how we love to quote Jeremiah 29:11, “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”. But as I’ve been studying the book of Jeremiah I am challenged to look as this verse in a deeper way. Jeremiah was chosen by God to speak very difficult truths to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and he was severely punished for it by the kings and leaders of those countries.  He was flogged, thrown into an empty cistern to die, imprisoned for years on end, thrown in a dungeon … you get the picture. These circumstances could easily be seen through our man-centered perspective as cruel, unnecessary, and hopeless.  Yet this is the same man to who God spoke saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5) and then later tells him “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.”  I wonder if Jeremiah questioned whether he’d heard the Lord correctly on this one? As his life unfolds I doubt anyone was standing back saying “wow, that guy is quite prosperous”, or “what a bright, hopeful future he has”.  Doesn’t this beg us to wrestle with our Americanized ideals of what it means to be prosperous, hopeful, and un-harmed? I think it’s all too easy to read Jeremiah 29:11 and assume that God desires to make us successful, wealthy, and keep us safe if we are genuine believers in Christ. If that is our conclusion then no wonder we have so many bitter, discouraged Christians when life seems to throw unnecessary tragedy their way. Instead I am challenged once again to realize that all this life is NOT ABOUT US.  It is all about God displaying HIS power, HIS authority, HIS authorship, HIS justice, and HIS redemptive story.  From man’s perspective Jeremiah’s life seems to be the antithesis of prosperity, but from God’s perspective it was an absolutely beautiful display of surrender, trust, and hope in the One who had formed him and called him. That is true success.  I urge you to look at your life: are you prospering according to man’s standards or prospering in ways that only God may see?  In conclusion I go back to the title of this post: God wants to make you rich, successful, and keep you safe.  RICH in love, SUCCESSFUL in obedience to the purposes HE has for your life, and SAFE in the blood of Christ.