GOD’S WORD: “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.” – Jeremiah 29:11

By Glenn Miller

This verse is one of great hope. Just when I think the world is coming in around me and my adversaries have flanked all corners of my being, this verse reminds me that God, the Creator and Author of all things, has created me to succeed and not to fail. This hope is ultimately made manifest in the Resurrection. We have been created (or programmed) to become prosperous, whatever that may entail, and be hopeful of a glorious eternal future. What then is it that stands in our way when God, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator of the Universe has deemed this?

Far too many times in my life I’ve encountered difficult times or circumstances and found myself asking God, “Why me?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” It’s almost as if I were saying to God, “God, if you were on duty watching over me and protecting me, this wouldn’t have happened!” It makes perfect sense, according to human logic, that the creative source of all things who has the power to initiate and cancel all things, could certainly prevent bad things from happening, or to cause only good things to happen. And I believe God certainly possesses that power. However, there’s more to it than seeing God as our celestial bodyguard or baby-sitter. No, I’ve discovered (and subsequently forgotten many times as well) that God gives us free agency to choose this blessing Jeremiah speaks of or not.

It’s that simple.

Submission to God’s sovereignty in our lives and realizing God’s plan of prosperity for us does not mean that difficult times will not occur. Far be it. What ownership of this blessing does mean, in my opinion, is one of two things. First, perhaps the difficult times that come our way is God strengthening us and forging us to become more like Him in order that we may realize what true spiritual prosperity is, and secondly, that difficult situations are sometimes the product of our choices not to follow God’s will. To believe that God created us to succeed is to believe that God DID NOT create us to fail! What may appear as a bump or pothole on our spiritual journey may in fact be a blessing in disguise, if only we remember that God has an overall plan for us.

It just might make a difference in your day.