Hello and welcome back to another Revelation post! This one will dip into Transparency territory, but overall, it is a revelation from the Word I’ve carried with me for a while and felt led to share. I pray it helps you in your walk as it has helped me in mine
Jeremiah 29:11 is a verse that has given me tremendous peace regarding the “unknown” aspects of my future. Whenever I was asked what I wanted to do, or be, or even the things that I like I often struggled to find an answer. For most of my life and my walk with Christ the ambiguity of life overwhelmed me, it felt like a math problem I just couldn’t solve, like a weight or pressure I had no means to overcome. The older I got, the worse it became, and even when other’s tried to reassure me I had plenty of time to figure it out I still felt like something was fundamentally wrong with me.
“How is it everyone else seems to know what they want in life? Where they want to be, what they want to do” I thought. For me the future was a giant white canvas, empty, devoid of definition and I hadn’t the slightest clue what to paint on it. Lo and behold this verse ministered something powerful to me that’s given me peace in the not knowing.
For context this takes place long after Jeremiah, a young prophet of God, begins walking in his purpose and he writes a letter to the surviving elders, priests, prophets and other exiles who were carried away by King Nebuchadnezzar from Jerusalem to Babylon. God is speaking to His people whom He allowed to be carried away into exile due to their repetitive sin and turning away from Him (they were unrepentant) and here through the hand of Jeremiah God is reassuring them that He will fulfill his promise to bring them back to their homeland after 70 years have passed. Verse 11 reads “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”. Here God is expressing that despite all they’ve done to earn their exile, He is still a promise keeper, and He assures them that though they’re in a foreign land not knowing what their future holds, He knows. He knows all, everything from before they even knew they were exiled. He has the timeframe set, marked in His calendar, planned out to the finest of details. Logically speaking, if God knew all that would take place regarding His children back in Jeremiah’s time, He knows all that will take place in mine.
Reading this verse birthed a new and long-lasting peace within my soul, knowing that if God was working things out for His children back then, surely His is doing the same for His children now. I may not know what lies ahead but He does, and I can rest assured that based on His character He is already working things out for my good, my development, and my favor. He goes before us, stays with us, and acts as our rear-guard; why would I not trust in Him? Recognizing that the Lord already has a plan for me, a perfect one, took the weight off my shoulders as far as figuring out the finite details of my future. That doesn’t remove the responsibility, however, as it is still my job to steward what God has given me, obey His instruction, and continue to seek Him for direction. Psalm 37:33 tells us “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him”, so while I don’t have to have it all figured out, I do need to make it my priority to delight in the Lord. Matthew 6:33 instructs us “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need”; so as I’m ensuring God is my highest priority and King over my heart, He will be meet me where I’m at and continue to provide for me.
There is peace to be had in not knowing the details, and joy to be found in knowing the One who has it all figured out already. I pray that this serves as an encouraging reminder to not focus so much on what you don’t know, but instead to shift your attention to the One who does. The Lord is faithful to deliver you from stressing about the details; He’s done it for me, and He can do it for you. Stay faithful, and stay blessed
Until next time,
-JB
Rnt with JB 