Plan
Well its May. And in the world of youth and student work and the lives of many young people that means one thing: Exams! Many of the amazing characters I work with are currently neck deep in the stress and anxiety of revision, mock papers, and long hours sat in isolated desks within row upon row of their peers, silently reading and writing out the shape of their future. So I thought I’d quickly write about something I believe is deeply important to communicate during these times when who, where and what we want to be feels as if it is perilously hanging in the balance… what is God’s plan for us…?
“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 a hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
This has to be one of the most well known and memorable versus in the bible. It also has to be one of the most misunderstood and misapplied. And its definitely one of the ones most often quoted when people are concerned about their future. Whilst on the one hand, hearing that God has a plan for us can be a source of comfort, on the other it can be quite a curse. Particularly when making life choices, the fear of stepping outside of God’s plan for us or screwing it up can be overwhelming.
So here’s the problem with our thinking about God’s plan and will for us, and basing our understanding on this particularly well known verse.
Firstly, this verse isn’t God speaking specifically to us. It isn’t even God speaking specifically to Jeremiah. It’s Him speaking to his chosen people, an entire nation, Israel. This isn’t about specific plans for specific individuals, but a plan for a whole community together. Secondly, God’s plan for that nation wasn’t anything new… it was the same it had always been: that they would, through the way that they lived and worshipped together, demonstrate to people who God was and what he was about.
At the time Jeremiah was relaying this message from God, Israel were in a dark period. They’d gone from being this epic, highly regarded, influential nation, to a bunch of second class citizens in other countries. They had collectively abandoned their calling to demonstrate what God and his way of doing life looked like and so had fallen into disarray. And they were deeply depressed about it! So God here is reminding them that he still loves them and still has a plan for them that can be full of life and hope with a great future, they just had, like prodigal sons, to go back to their Father and start living again by the house rules
So God’s plan here is bigger than individuals and their choices and their exam results. God is speaking to a community made up of thousands of individuals, living out their days, making their choices, passing or failing exams, and calling them collectively to something bigger than themselves. This isn’t about God saying to every individual “my plan is that you must get this result, do this job, marry this person, and live in this place”. This is about God saying, as he always has, "be the community through which I love and reveal myself to the world."
None of this is to say that God doesn’t love individuals and is not concerned about their personal lives. There are many stories in the Old Testament about YHWH entering into the stories of individuals, speaking to them specifically and bringing breakthrough in their circumstances. Jesus’ concern for the welfare of specific people during his ministry is also a clear indication of God’s love and concern about what we go through personally - including exams! God definitely does call individuals to certain things - as mirrored with Jesus calling the disciples - but both YHWH in the old testament and Jesus in the new are calling people to a certain way of life.
So we can be less worried about “Should I study this subject? Should I apply to this university? Should I move to this place? What if I fail this exam?” and more worried about “Does my life reflect God’s Kingdom, God’s love and God’s way of living.”
Part of that way of living does involve inviting God to speak to you about those other things, and praying for your circumstances but if he says nothing, or you don’t get the results you want, it doesn’t mean he is disinterested and there is every likelihood that he is releasing you to make your own decisions, and carve your own path. The freedom to do this is what makes life with God an exciting adventure, not a boring formula.
If you want to explore this idea further, Jefferson Bethke, a Youtuber I have a growing appreciation for, has produced two great videos on this topic. One makes the point I’ve just made about how the above Jeremiah verse is misunderstood and misused, the other explores the idea of how we can know God’s will for us. But for now i just want to say a couple of uncharacteristically pastoral things:
For every young person I work with who is concerned about God’s plan for their lives and wants that to inform their life decisions, I have another young person who isn’t concerned about that and isn’t fussed about God informing their decisions in life. So a message to each of you…
To the stressed and concerned: May you know the peace of God who delights in your desire to serve and involve him in all aspects of your life. May you know deeply that your walk with him, and your ability to have a life to the full is not dependant on your exam results, and whilst you can honour God through your work ethic at this time, your walk with him is not dependant on your academic achievements. So work hard, pray hard, do yourselves justice during this season, and continue to seek God but be blessed with the knowledge that he enjoys simply walking with you, pointing you in the direction of his Kingdom but releasing you to navigate the journey that takes you there together.
To those unconcerned by what God might have for them: May you know the deep love of a God who longs to bring his life into every aspect of yours. May you see and become captivated by the vision of a world that looks and lives as God dreamed it would. And may you find the greater adventures awaiting you as you choose to surrender your plans to God, inviting him to direct you in potentially new directions, remembering that in sacrificing these parts of yourself you will gain all the more. God wants to bless you with a full life, and that is not dependant on your academic achievement. So work hard, pray hard, do yourselves justice during this season, and remember that there is a God who can walk with you into an amazing future if you’ll let him.
And to all young people at this time: remember to pray, take breaks, eat and drink well, have grace for your friends and family, keep one eye on the summer holidays, and know that God loves you no matter what! And also, far from it being God’s plan versus your plan, you are invited to plan together with Him and he can work around any failures and with any successes. So be blessed - God is on your side.
