Jeremiah 29:11-13 is quoted often. In the NIV this reads:

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.”

If I am honest, over the last year or two I have found myself questioning those verses and questioning who I thought God was.

“I know the plans I have for you.”
Has anyone reading this ever felt like their ‘plan’ was going wrong? That they are outside their comfort zone and not within it?
I know I have.
At times I have felt as though God’s plans were great for everyone else but His ones for me were a little suspect!

This verse tell us that God’s plans for us have four functions:
To prosper us
Not to harm us
To give us hope
To give us a future

Does that sound like grief to you?
It sounds to me like the opposite.
I didn’t understand how grief fitted into that at all.

Grief has a way of changing the way we see things doesn’t it?
It doesn’t feel at all like someone’s death could be part of God’s good plans for us. It doesn’t feel like it could ever prosper us, or give us a hope – and a brighter, better future.

But then we are not God. We see things with very limited sight and understanding. His ways are higher than our ways aren’t they?

Did I feel I was being prospered in this season? No I didn’t. I couldn’t see what God was doing.

I felt as though I had stopped living. I was just existing and getting through the day. Perhaps some of you know that feeling too?
After Gran died, I really went under for a while. I felt very down and was only able to function at a low level. I love catering and having people over to the house, but I just couldn’t do it. One day Jon said “Do you realise that we haven’t seen anyone here for 5 months?’

I had no idea. I was just on automatic pilot and surviving each day.
I had to journey through that time and it took me a while. But one day after I had been praying on my own for some time, I started to see a glimmer of light. I felt as though I left behind some of my fears.

The next part of that verse is very key too:

“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.”

Whatever we are facing this is an incredible promise. If we call on God and come and pray to Him, He will listen to us. He promises that when we seek Him, we will find Him.
I think I had stopped seeking Him. I was quite grumpy with Him. I didn’t want to hear from Him. I didn’t understand.

I am not saying that I do now. There are many things that are a mystery in life -and death- and rightly so. God doesn’t have to explain Himself to me. It is enough to know that His plans are perfect, that He orders our steps and that He comforts us when we doubt or fear the worst.

I had no idea that coming through a time of deep grief would have any benefit at all. But God surprised me. He can turn anything around. He can make good where there is no good. He can use any situation and make it a blessing.

What about you? What are you fearing that God has not or will not turn around for your good? Is it your health, your finances or your circumstances? I am learning that God’s plans will PROSPER me in every way. Trust Him today to do the same for you.