God Has A Wonderful Plan For Your Life | The Bible Doesn't Say That | Trinity Sermons

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of

Trinity Sermons. This week, we are continuing

our sermon series, The Bible Doesn't Say That,

where we look at some different phrases that

sound really spiritual, but aren't actually biblical.

Today, we're looking at this phrase, God has

a wonderful plan for your life. And while it

is true that God does have a plan for your life,

and that that plan is good, that doesn't mean

that it always feels good. So Rob is going to

unpack for us Jeremiah 29, 11. I know the plans

that I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans

to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to

give you a hope and a future. And we're going

to talk about what does that really mean for

God to have plans for our hope and future. Today's

reading is taken from the book of Jeremiah, chapter

Jeremiah 29:1

29, verses 1, 4 to 14. This is the text of the

letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem

to the surviving elders among the exiles and

to the priests and the prophets and all the other

people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile

from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the Lord

Almighty, the God of Israel, says to those I

carried from... Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses

and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they

produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find

wives for your sons and give your daughters in

marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters.

Increase in number there. Do not decrease. Also,

prosperity and the peace of the city to which

I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord

for it, because if it prospers, you too will

prosper. This is what the Lord Almighty, the

God of Israel, says. Do not let the prophets

and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen

to the dreams you encourage them to have. They

are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have

not sent them, declares the Lord. This is what

the Lord says. When 70 years are completed for

Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good

promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you

will call on me and come and pray to me, and

I will listen to you. You will seek me and find

me when you seek me with all your heart. I will

be found by you, declares the Lord. and will

bring you back from captivity. I will gather

you from all the nations and places where I have

banished you, declares the Lord, and will bring

you back to the place from which I carried you

into exile. The word of the Lord. Today, we are

going to be looking at one of your favorite verses.

It's a verse that you know, and it's a verse

that many of you have quoted from time to time.

And even if you're actually not a Christian,

you wouldn't call yourself a Christian, chances

are you've seen this verse somewhere on a t -shirt,

on a piece of artwork, or something like that.

What I want to do, though, is I want to start

by telling you about the first time I came face

-to -face with this particular verse. I was a

student in university, first year, heading to

physics college. class, and there was someone

who said, hey, come over here. I want to talk

to you. It seemed like a friendly fellow, so

I went over to chat with him, and I thought it

was just an innocent conversation, but then he

pulled out one of these little booklets, and

the booklet says, you know, it's called The Four

Spiritual Laws, and so as it turns out, this

guy, a great guy, but he was part of a Christian

group on campus, and what this Christian group

did, among other things, is they went around

to people, and they talked to them about Jesus

and tried to get them to follow Jesus by taking

them through their little booklet, which was

called The Four Spiritual Laws. And so I decided,

okay, you know, sure, why not? I'm happy to hear

what the four spiritual laws are. And he opened

it up and the very first spiritual law says that

God loves you. and has a wonderful plan for your

life. And I thought, well, that sounds really,

really good. And he talked about how God had

plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans

to give me a hope and to give me a future. It

sounded fantastic. I loved law number one. Then

he did go through and tell me what law number

two was about, how my sin separated me from God.

Law number three was how Jesus bridged that divide

between me and God. And law number four, how

I could begin a relationship with Jesus right

then and there. Great. But it was really law

number one that caught my attention. God has

a wonderful plan for my life. And he even quoted

a very famous scripture verse. This is your favorite

scripture verse too, which is 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, right?

Now this verse has actually been nicknamed America's

favorite Bible verse. But I say even here north

of the border, we love this verse. Chances are

you guys have a bookmark somewhere. It's a laminated

bookmark with an eagle soaring. And you got it

at a Christian bookstore sometime back in like

1997. And on that verse, on that bookmark, it

says Jeremiah 29, 11. And you love that bookmark.

That bookmark is in your favorite Bible because

you love that verse. Or perhaps you've got that

coffee mug, right? And every morning as you pour

that blessed brew into your coffee, you say,

the Lord has plans to prosper me today and caffeinate

me today. And you love that coffee mug. The coffee

tastes better because it's in that mug. It's

your favorite verse. Or maybe, I think probably

every single graduation card that you get these

days has this verse on it. And for good reason.

It's very encouraging for the new grad to know

that once they graduate, there is a future for

them. There is a purpose for them. There may

even be a job for them. It's a very encouraging

graduation card. Some of you have a fridge magnet

that has this verse on it. Every time you raid

the fridge for a midnight snack, you remember

Jeremiah 2911. It's on Facebook banners. This

is on Instagram posts. on social media. It's

on home decor. It's even on tattoos. People love

this verse. And I will bet good money. I'll bet

good money that someone here has a little cushion

at home that your grandma cross -stitched for

you. And on that cushion is is cross -stitch

Jeremiah 29 11, because Jeremiah 29 11 is the

most grandma -approved scripture verse in all

of the Bible. This was the promise that I was

told about that day on campus. God has a wonderful

plan for my life. But does the Bible really say

that? And does that verse, Jeremiah 29, 11, really

mean that? Will God really give us a life of

ease and success as it suggests? Will everything

go smoothly? Will my bank accounts always be

full? My relationships always be harmonious?

And if I do go through any trouble, I know that

it will be temporary and God will sort it out

really, really quickly. Is that the kind of wonderful

life that this verse talks about? Or maybe did

grandma have no idea what she was doing when

she stitched Jeremiah 29 onto that little pillow

for you? So you might hate me today and think

this is totally sacrilegious, but we are going

to dissect your favorite verse. and see what

it really says. And don't worry, in the end,

it's going to be wonderful. But before we begin,

let's just do a little refresher course on how

we're supposed to read any Bible verse, actually,

that we come across, even if it's from an Old

Testament book like the book of Jeremiah. By

the way, there's little notes, as always, that

we've given you, and I would encourage you to

follow along to get the most out of this. But

whenever we read a Bible verse, the first thing

that we should ask is we have to look at the

context. Who wrote it? Who were they writing

to? When were they writing? What was happening

at the time? What comes before that verse? What

comes after that verse? Scripture verse lives

in isolation. Context is really important. Secondly,

if you come and you hit a snag about how to interpret

a verse in the Bible, then one of the rules is

you interpret Scripture with Scripture. Which

means the best way to understand the Bible is

to let the Bible tell you how to understand it.

Look through the rest of the Bible for other

Scriptures on that same theme. The Bible can

explain itself, in other words. Thirdly, read

whatever you're reading through the lens and

through the story of Jesus. Because, and here's

why. Because as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, he

says, all the promises of God find their yes

in Jesus Christ. So that means that Jesus is

really where the whole Bible is pointing toward

him, and therefore we have to read the Bible

in light of the great event. of Jesus Christ.

And then fourthly, and finally, we're going to

apply what we've read to our lives. The Bible

is not a textbook, right? The Bible is a It's

a book that we are meant to live out. And only

once, though, we've understood the context and

interpreted it properly and filtered it through

Jesus, only then can we actually know what it

meant and then know what it means and then know

what it means to live it out. So those are just

some of the tools that we can use to read a verse

like Jeremiah 29 .11. And when we do read Jeremiah

29 .11 with some of those tools, what do we discover?

Well, one of the first things we have to ask

is, Who is the you? Who is the you in, for I

know the plans I have for you? Now, most of us

instinctively assume the you is me, right? God

has plans for me. God wants to prosper me. God

does not want to harm me. He has a future for

me. He has a hope for me. But it's important

to note this, that the Hebrew word you here is

plural. So in English, what it actually reads

is, I know the plans I have for all you guys.

Which means that this verse is actually a communal

promise to a group of people. It is not an individual

life verse. It is not a private word from God

to the young adult looking for a job. That's

not who the you is. Who is the you? Well, we

go back a few verses to Jeremiah 29 .1, and it

tells us who the you is. This is the text of

a letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from

Jerusalem to you? No. To the surviving elders

among the exiles. That's who. Oh, right, right.

To the priests and the prophets and all the people

that Nebuchadnezzar carried away into exile from

Jerusalem to Babylon. Okay, that's the you. This

is a letter written to the people of Judah who

2 ,600 years ago were taken from their homeland

and forced. To live in Babylon under the thumb

of King Nebuchadnezzar. If you want even more

context, remember context is important. Jeremiah

tells us the reason God allowed them to be taken

off into exile was because of their idolatry,

their injustice, their hypocrisy, the way they

oppressed people. And now they're in crisis.

And now they want to go home. And now they want

to be rescued, okay? But just to be clear, let

me say it again. Your favorite verse was not

a private note of encouragement to a new grad.

It is a public letter to a nation who is in crisis.

Now, I confess that when I first read that verse

on campus, I thought, oh, the U is me. Right?

Because I want to be the main character of the

Bible. Right? When I read about Noah building

the ark, I say, oh, that's about me. That's about

me building my life. When I read about David

and Goliath, I say, oh, that's about me. That's

about me overcoming my challenges. When I see

Jesus calming the storm, I say, oh, that's my

story. That's about me kind of dealing with my

anxiety or whatever the case is. We assume. The

verse is about me. But when we do that, we risk

twisting the meaning of the verse. I want to

share with you a couple of fancy kind of seminary

words. The first word is exegesis. Let's say

that one together. Exegesis, right? Exegesis

is when you read the Bible. To draw out, that's

what X means, to kind of pull out, draw out the

meaning of the text. And that's how we should

be reading the Bible. That should be our goal.

What did God mean? What was God saying then and

there to those people? Another word, though,

that we learn in seminary is eisegesis. Can you

guys say this? Eisegesis. Eisegesis is when you

read into the text things that actually aren't

there. things that we wish were there, or even

we read ourselves into the Bible. Now, guys,

it's not that we're heretics. It's just that

we're human beings, and it's natural to read

something like the Bible and put ourselves right

in there. But when we start there, when we treat

Scripture as a mirror that reflects myself, rather

than as a window to see the context, then you're

going to get bummed out eventually. Because what

you thought the Bible was saying to you wasn't

actually being said to you in the way that you

thought, and you're going to be let down. Now,

check this out. What comes before Jeremiah 29?

Jeremiah 28, right? And if you read Jeremiah

28, you'll actually read... about a guy named

Hananiah. Hananiah, like Jeremiah, was a prophet.

But Hananiah had a very different message for

all the people who were in exile. This is what

Hananiah says. He says, guess what? Good news.

The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says that

within two years, he is going to bring you back.

to Judah, back to your home. And that's good

news, folks. This exile is going to be short

-lived, so don't get too comfortable here. God's

going to rescue us. He's going to break the Babylonians,

bring us back home before you know it. If this

was like today, you know, hashtag going home

or hashtag God's got you, right? This would be

trending on TikTok. People would be reposting

this like crazy. But Jeremiah, This is Hananiah.

Jeremiah just starts slow clapping, saying, oh,

very nice, Hananiah, very nice. It all sounds

so lovely. But the truth is, Jeremiah says, these

people are not going anywhere anytime soon. So

Jeremiah says, so you should build houses. You

should settle down. You should actually plant

gardens. Get married. Why not? Because this is

what the Lord says. When 70 years are completed,

not two, 70 years, I will come to you and bring

you back. In other words, get ready for the long

haul. You're going to be stuck in a very difficult

situation for 70 years before anything changes.

And that's Jeremiah 29, 10. And right after that,

we read, for I know the plans I have for you,

says the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm

you. That's the context. So can you imagine a

new graduation card? Happy graduation. Good things

are coming for you in 70 years, in your 80s.

Hang on till 2094. That's the context of this

verse. It's actually quite ironic, because we

think that this verse is about God's wonderful

plan for your life, but this verse is actually

about how God upends all the wonderful plans

that we have for our lives in so many ways that

we don't want. We want comfort and ease, and

we want immediate resolutions to our problems,

but that was not the promise, and that still

is not the promise. Here's the kicker, you know,

Jeremiah... calls Hananiah a false prophet and

says, hey, by the way, Hananiah, you're going

to die. And sure enough, seven months later,

Hananiah drops dead. That, by the way, is why

people name their sons Jeremiah and not Hananiah.

Because Hananiah was offering them false. Good

news. News that feels good in the moment. News

that claims God is going to get you out of the

hard things real fast. When in reality, God might

be calling you to stay faithful through a long,

hard season. And if we're not careful, we can

get drawn into that same kind of message today.

We open our Bibles. We assume it's about me and

my comfort and my goals and my happiness. And

when we treat that, The Bible like that, we're

actually not hearing from God. We're just hearing

our own voices amplified. Now, I know some of

you will probably say, Rob, okay, come on, but

what is the harm? Look, what's the harm of having

something encouraging? Yes, it might be misquoted

or misapplied, but it's hopeful, it's positive.

It is in the Bible, right? Well, here's the harm.

When we take Scripture and we turn it into a

promise, of personal comfort, three things can

happen. First, creates an egocentric faith. When

we read that I know the plans I have for you,

and we assume that the you is me, that means

our faith starts to revolve all around our dreams

and our comfort and our timeline. And in that

scenario, God actually becomes your butler, not

your king. Someone who's always there to bless

your plans or fix your problems or get you that

parking spot. But when God is your butler, you're

only going to stick around as long as the service

is good. And that brings us to the second danger

of misreading the Bible. It creates disillusioned

disciples. You see, many people go to church

and they get super excited. About Jesus. Not

because they were convicted of their sin. Or

not because they were just amazed by God's grace.

But because they were told, follow Jesus and

your life will get better. And maybe for a little

while, it does. But then eventually comes that

phone call from the doctor and the diagnosis.

Or then all of a sudden comes the layoff. Or

comes the breakup and the depression. And suddenly...

You feel lied to by God. Studies show that over

90 % of people who decide to follow Jesus because

of the promise of a better life don't continue

in a life of discipleship. In fact, Bill Bright,

the guy who wrote the four spiritual laws, later

regretted his approach. And why? Because of the

fallout. People were told, God's got a wonderful

plan for your life. Or like Hananiah, they said,

God is going to fix everything and it'll be very

quick. And when life didn't match up to that

promise, it was like God let them down. But it

wasn't God who let them down. It was a warped

version of the gospel that failed them. And that

means that the third problem with this way of

thinking is that misreading the Bible. creates

a version of the gospel that, yeah, it works

well on a Hallmark greeting card, but it does

not work well in real life. It works in the country

club, but it doesn't work in the hospital room.

The gospel makes sense in the suburbs, but it

doesn't make sense in the slums. It works on

Instagram, but it doesn't work in a war zone.

Craig Groeschel put it very sharply. He said,

if your version of the gospel doesn't preach

in a refugee camp, it's not the gospel. When

we replace the gospel of the cross with the gospel

of comfort, we turn the good news into a greeting

card. It's not the gospel. And that's why we

have to get this right. That's why we have to

read Bible verses, even our favorite Bible verses,

in the right way. And I know that right now you're

probably feeling pretty depressed by all this.

You're like, gosh, Rob, that was my favorite

verse, and that was my favorite coffee mug. And

now you're telling me that verse wasn't written

for me, it wasn't meant for me, and it didn't

mean what I thought. And I want to say, don't

worry, I've got some other ideas for some coffee

mugs. I think these verses... do apply for all

Christians everywhere. How about this one? Get

a coffee mug with 2 Timothy 3 .12. Everyone who

wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will

be persecuted. Wouldn't that be great? Every

morning to pick up your cup of coffee and say,

oh, praise God, I'm going to be persecuted today.

My life verse. There you go. Or how about this

one? You want a different magnet for your fridge?

Then try Philippians 1 .29. For you've been given

not only the privilege of trusting in Christ,

but also the privilege of suffering for him.

Oh, every time I open the fridge, I'm reminded

of that promise. The believing in Christ means

suffering for Christ. Okay, obviously I'm playing

with you. Truth is, you do not have to trash

your mug. or your magnet, or go get that tattoo

removed, right? You don't have to hide grandma's

pillow when she comes over. Do not burn that

vintage bookmark. It's going to be worth something

someday. Because now that we know what Jeremiah

29 11 meant in its context back then, that we

can now see what it really does mean for us today.

And here's what it means. Yes, God has a wonderful

plan for your life, but it's not always a comfortable

plan. And yes, God has a future for you, but

it might take longer than you expect. God's plan

for you, like Israel, might actually include

waiting, a whole lot of waiting. You know, think

of the couple that's been trying to have a child

year after year, or that person searching for

a job. And they can never find one that truly

fits. God has plans for you. It might unfold

over decades, though, and not days. Think about

who Jeremiah was writing to. We're told he was

writing to the elders. The elders were already

60 or 70 years old. So if he says, you're going

to get out of here in 70 years, they're saying

to themselves, I am not even going to live to

see this promise fulfilled. A lot of waiting.

Sometimes never even seeing. But sometimes God

uses that waiting time to shape us more than

the thing we're waiting for. God's plans may

also include wrestling, bringing all your doubts

and questions to God. His plans for you may also

include persevering, staying faithful when prayers

seem unanswered, when progress feels slow, when

you feel totally unnoticed by God. God's plans

for you may include growing. Because growth often

happens when we're stretched. God's plans for

you may include suffering. Because with God,

suffering is never wasted. It becomes this place

where God meets us, not with easy answers, but

with his presence. You see, these kind of words,

they don't make it onto graduation cards or bookmarks.

But Jeremiah 29 .11 does not promise easy, quick

fixes. It promises long -term faithfulness. It's

not about God snapping his fingers and solving

your problems. It's about God staying with you

through your problems. And actually, that's an

even better promise. Hey, you know what? Today,

when you leave, we're going to give you a bookmark.

Except for it's not a bookmark of Jeremiah 29

.11. I'm not saying that's a bad bookmark. But

this is Jeremiah 29, 13. Two verses later. And

on this bookmark it says, You will seek me and

find me when you seek me with all of your heart.

This verse sustains us when things aren't easy.

When life is hard and uncertain and full. It

says, when you seek God with all of your heart,

you might not get everything you want, but you

know what you do get? You get God. And that is

even better. But even Jeremiah 29, 11 is a powerful

verse if you are a follower of Jesus. Because

in Jesus, Those ancient words do take on a new

meaning. Remember, one of the rules about reading

verses is to read them through the lens of Jesus.

Did God have a wonderful plan for Jesus' life?

Yes, but also no. I mean, God's plan for Jesus'

life is not health and wealth. It was suffering

and humility. Jesus followed God's wonderful

plan for him all the way to the cross, and yet

it was through that suffering and that came a

wonderful resurrection and a wonderful hope for

you and me. So therefore, if we read Jeremiah

29, 11 through the lens of Jesus, that we see,

yes, you know what? God does have a wonderful

plan for me. But not just plans for my comfort.

They're plans for my transformation. God's wonderful

plan for you is actually to shape you into the

likeness of his son. That is his wonderful plan

for you. And does God want to prosper you? Yes.

but not necessarily with material wealth. In

Jesus, true prosperity means growing in love

and joy and peace. Does God have plans not to

harm you? Yes. I mean, you're still going to

go through pain, but God will use that pain for

good, and he promises there will come a day when

there will be no more pain. Does God give you

hope? Does God have a plan for your future? Yes,

but in Christ, our future doesn't necessarily

just mean next year or the next job. It's eternity.

It's a restored world. It's a resurrected body.

It is a brand new creation. If by wonderful you

mean that God is going to take away hardship

immediately, then no. God did not promise that

to the Israelites, and he does not promise that

to you either. That is not the kind of wonderful

life. But his plans are wonderful in an even

better way. God's wonderful plan for your life

is not a life of ease, but endurance. Not about

escape, but God's embrace for you. It's not about

comfort, but it's about communion. He will never

leave you or forsake you. It's not always about

relief, but it is always about the hope of resurrection.

That's the real good news. That's the gospel

that preaches in the suburbs and the slums, in

the cathedrals. and the bomb shelters, in the

wedding chapels, and in the funeral homes. It's

the good news, not that God saves you from all

of your hardship, but that God saves you from

all of your sin and then walks with you through

all of your hardship until we get to the day

when there is no more hardship. That's what the

Bible really says. That's what he promised then,

and that is what he promises still. So thanks

be to God. Amen.