Trust God: His plan is always better than ours

In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we find the story of nation that continually rebelled against God and his word. The Jewish people were being held captive by the Babylonians. God had repeatedly warned the Israelites not to turn to false gods and idols.

Yet again and again, despite the unique covenant relationship they had with God Almighty, they turned to false gods that could not see, hear, or help them in any way.

God raised up prophets to warn them, but they persisted in their idolatry. God even warned them that another nation would invade and conquer them. Still, they resisted and rebelled.

Then one day the Babylonians overtook the people of Israel, carrying them away to Babylon for 70 years. The irony is that Babylon was full of idols. In essence God was saying, "You want idols? OK. Here you go."

I pray that something like this doesn't happen to the United States of America. I pray that God will not allow our enemies to prevail over this country because we've turned our backs on him.

Researchers found that in the days that immediately followed 9/11, 67% of Americans prayed or attended some kind of religious ceremony. Twenty-two years ago, many Americans were turning to God. But when a crisis begins to fade or we don't feel as threatened as we once did, we go back to our old ways.

The Israelites quickly began to cry out to God in their captivity. Some even said that God had forsaken them.

Yet in chapter 29 of Jeremiah, we have God's words to people who are concerned about their future: "For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (verses 10–11 NKJV).

Verse 7 helps us understand the context: "And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it: for in its peace you will have peace" (NKJV).

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God was saying, "You're in Babylon right now, and I know you want to get out of there immediately. But what I'm saying to you is make the best of it. Be good citizens. And know there is coming a day when I will deliver you from this place. But that day may not come as soon as you would like it to. You're going to have to serve your time."

Why did God say this? Because false prophets were rising up and giving the people false hope. They were saying God had revealed to them that Israel would be delivered immediately.

Earlier in Jeremiah 29, God said, "Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed, for they prophesy falsely to you in My name: I have not sent them" (verses 8–10 NKJV).

In the same way, there are people who rise up among us and give false hope. They present a watered-down Gospel, saying something along these lines: "All you have to do is pray this little prayer and then go on your way. You'll have a new spring in your step."

Meanwhile, they don't tell us what it really means to become a Christian. They mention nothing about repentance and obedience. They offer a version of Christianity that isn't biblical.

Yes, Jesus Christ does change us. That is undeniable. But as Christians, we're still works in progress. We don't want to give a false expectation so that someone says a prayer and believes from that day forward that life will be pure bliss and trouble free. That isn't biblical Christianity.

I don't need to water down the Gospel, add to it, or candy-coat it. I'm confident in the message just as it is. What I need to do is proclaim it in its authority and then stand back and watch what God will do.

We don't want to have hope based on something that isn't true. And that is what God was saying to the Israelites in captivity.

The good news was that he would deliver them from their captivity. The bad news was that it would be in 70 years. However, God wanted them to know that in the interim, he would be at work in their lives. He had a plan for them. He was thinking about them, and the thoughts he was thinking were good thoughts. So they weren't forgotten. They weren't forsaken.

Sometimes we feel as though God has forsaken us. Sometimes we think he has forgotten us.

For example, maybe you set certain goals that you wanted to reach by this stage of your life. But you haven't reached them. Or, you hoped that certain things would happen by now, and they haven't happened. So you're saying, "God, what are you doing? Why haven't you done what I wanted you to do?"

God won't give us false hope. It may not be exactly what we want or when we want it, but God's plan is better than ours. We'll to have to trust him on that. Meanwhile, we have some things that we need to learn first. But we can know that God is thinking about us. He hasn't forgotten us.

Even when people forget us, God never forgets us. Romans 8:31 reminds us, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (NKJV). We're always on his mind.

But we also need to recognize that God's thoughts are different than our thoughts. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God said, " 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways' " (Isaiah 55:8 NKJV).

Sometimes God may lead us on a path we don't want to take. That is where faith comes in. That is where we fall back on the love of God and remember that whatever he does in our lives (or fails to do, in our estimation) is based on his love. We need to remember that he has a plan for us, a purpose for us. And that plan is good.

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