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| “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 |
The motivational speaker concluded his two-hour lecture on successful management with these words:
“Plan your work and work your plan!”
As he finished speaking, I looked at the three pages of notes that I had taken and thought that his summary offered a fair representation of what he had taught during that session.
From my study of the Mind Styles™ insights provided by Anthony F. Gregorc, Ph.D., I also knew that actually sitting down to analyze goals, enabling objectives, and strategies, and to then formulate a concrete plan would prove very difficult for individuals who had very little Concrete-Sequential in their array of Mind Styles. Those with a dominance of the Abstract-Random or the Concrete-Random Mind Style would much rather do anything other than disciplined planning.
Part of the power of the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post rests in the fact that the Master Planner of the universe has stated that He has plans for His dearly loved children. The Prophet Jeremiah has recorded this declaration from God in a letter that Jeremiah sent to those from Israel who found themselves in exile in Babylon.
The entire letter contains very specific instruction as to what those in exile should do. To give them proper encouragement, God makes the declaration in this verse. He tells these ones in exile that He remains in control of every aspect of their existence. He has a plan for them. It is a plan that He has created and knows. He tells them that His plans for them will prosper them and give them hope for a future.
As I’ve stated in previous blog posts, some of my more liberal Christian friends sincerely believe that such a verse does not apply to us today. I heartily disagree. Just as God had Jeremiah send these words to those in exile in Babylon, as I read this verse I sense how much it applies to us “Christ’s-ones” today.
We have been exiled from intimate fellowship with God by the sin curse that has befallen us since the Garden of Eden. Even in the United States of America—which wise men founded on straightforward Judeo-Christian principles—we have, in my lifetime, become more and more distant from God’s ideal way of living. In a sense, we have become exiled from the God who loves us.
So, when I read the words in this verse, I strongly sense the Holy Spirit applying them to our own circumstances, as modern day followers of Jesus. God knows the plans He has for us. Through the whole counsel of God, He declares that He has a plan to prosper us spirtually and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. Truly, as we obediently follow the pathway God lays out before us, we can recognize that these words remain true for us, just as they proved true for those in exile in Babylon.
We must begin this day by praising God for His faithfulness to us. He loves us with His unfailing, undying love. He has our best interest at heart. He has a plan for us. Let us obediently stay on the pathway that He lays out before us. And, with hearts filled with humility and gratitude, let us cling to Him with all of our four human modalities: heart, soul, mind, and strength.
