Plans. Hope. Future.

Not 30 minutes ago, I was just composing an email to a bloggy friend who has been on my mind this afternoon.  I just jotted a quick note to let her know I was praying for her, thinking of her and her family.  She’s working through some issues, none of which I know the first detail about. But that’s ok. HE knows.

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11, below.  

From the NIV
“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.”

From The Message
“I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

I shared this with my friend in the email, and I’m quite sure she knows this passage well.  It may be one of her favorites as well.  But when I looked at it in The Message—not usually one of my preferred versions—I saw something in a new way. 

Simply stated. “I know what I’m doing.” 

At that very moment, I looked at my phone to see that I’d missed some calls.  One of them was from a dear friend, and I texted her back to see if she needed something.  She texted back some upsetting news and I called immediately.  She is facing a situation where her future is suddenly looking much different than she planned.  It’s not fair. It’s painful.  Her family will be very upset by this news. Innocent lives are involved.  There’s nothing about the situation that makes sense to me. One person’s decision could make many other lives very difficult.

“I know what I’m doing.”

I don’t know why I didn’t mention it to her on the phone.  I should have. But it was in my mind as I listened and had no words of wisdom.  She knows better than I, better than most, how trust and faith require letting go of control. She knows that life does not always follow HER plan. Yet it doesn’t make receiving potentially heartbreaking news any easier.  It doesn’t make it less difficult to see the pain in your children’s eyes.

What we must rely on, even when we can’t see through the tears, is that HE does know.  It still hurts. It still isn’t fair.  It still seems wrong. But we know HE knows the plan. HE will always be with us as we take one very hesitant step at a time.

I spent time right then praying. Praying through this verse for both these families.  Making bold requests before the Lord to make this piece of the plan known to them and to make a way where there does not seem to be one. I’m not giving up. HE knows the plan. I don’t. So I will continue to ask and expect until I see that my requests are not in line with the plan.  Then I will defer to his plan. Easier said than done. I know.

Our world is flawed. Our world is comprised of good and bad.  Being a Christ-follower does not exempt you from having pain and disappointment.  But it does give you the ability to KNOW, without a doubt, that the Creator of all things knows your heart, your desires, your pain, and he has a plan. 

He knows what he is doing. 

I wish I could see the plan sometimes. But even in not allowing that, he knows better.  So I will trust, plead on behalf of my friends, and I will believe in HIS plan.