All part of God's plan

This week we tackle the phrase “all part of God’s plan”. While this phrase is intended, like others, to bring a sense of comfort, we once again need to be careful with the words we use. In the past we looked at being mindful of declaring God’s desires when we don’t know the mind of God. Likewise, this week, we need to be careful when we declare absolutes about God and what God wants for this world. So when we try to comfort someone going through hardship and we tell them it was all part of God’s plan, we are trying to tell them that it’s going to be ok and that God is involved.

But here is what we might be telling someone instead. We might be telling them that God has everything planned out, since it’s all part of God’s plan, and that all of these hardships and trials are also done by God and God has a very specific purpose for you going through that, and hopefully you can figure that out instead of being resentful of God. What this also could lead to is the idea of predestination, which is the idea that God has already predestined certain people to go to heaven and certain people to not go to heaven. Do you see how if we tell people everything is under God’s plan then there’s really nothing we can do about it which not only leads us to predestination but also takes away our free will. Which is our choice to have a relationship with God and God’s strong desire to have a relationship with us. And if there was no free will then why is the entire Bible the story of God trying to convince us to love God?

And now to a much more real in the moment example of how dangerous this phrase can be. If we say that everything (all) is a part of God’s plan then are we willing to accept that God planned and carried out the wildfire in Lahaina, Maui? Or what about all the violence we have seen around the world? Was COVID, which is apparently making some waves right now again, a part of God’s plan? Perhaps you can think of your own examples of how something in your life or someone else’s probably wasn’t a direct act of God or a part of what God wanted for you or someone else. So do you see how when we declare absolutes like “all” “every” or “always” can lead down a very deep rabbit hole that we may never have intended to go.

God’s plan for Abraham was to give him a land and a nation of people and that God would bless the entire would through them. Unfortunately people were people and they exercised free will and lived their own lives for themselves instead of for God. So the people went into exile in Babylon and God did not abandon them there but promised to be with them the entire time. Which ended up being about 70 years and it was during that beginning of the exile that we hear these words from God’s prophet Jeremiah how God promised to be with them and guide them during this time of exile. The plan as I said was not for them to live in exile, but now that they are in exile they are encouraged to build houses and settle down, to make gardens and essentially contribute to the culture and society they are now a part of. God goes even so far as to say that they should pray for the place they are living in even if it isn’t their original home in the land they were promised. This is what has happened and God will be with them through it, but they need to do their part to ensure their welfare and the welfare of their new home.

To me, what this says is that God is working with and through the circumstances that has led them to this point. It wasn’t what anyone wanted, including God, but it is what has happened and now God is going to work alongside them so they know that God is with them and will never abandon them. This actually ties in to what we talked about toward the beginning of our Bumper Sticker Theology series where we talked about the idea of God walking alongside us throughout all the ups and downs of our lives. As I said before, the exile lasted for 70 years and as you can probably determine that the people going into exile would likely not be the ones returning to the promised land, so again, this is something that was life altering for everyone and God declares to the people that God will come back as promised and lead them back to Israel. God then goes on to say a very popular phrase which I didn’t include in our reading today very intentionally so that you hear it in the proper context. It is in my office and something I look at often. It is a phrase that you have likely heard, and much like when we started this series, has been taken out of context and has probably helped fuel this idea of how things are all part of God’s plan. The CEB which we use for our Bible readings really nails the translation of this verse and inserts the words “in mind”, and simply by including those words for us in English help us to understand that God has plans for us, but that it may not happen because, well as I have said before, we are people, and we have proven to not always allow God to work in and through us and this world as we should.

So again, context is important, and as beautiful as verse 11 about God’s plan for us and how that plan is for peace and a future filled with hope we need to also look at verse 12 and 13 which says that when we call upon God and pray for God, when we seek God, God will be there for us. There is a mutuality for God’s plans for all of us in this world. Several commentaries I read emphasize God’s desire for the people to actively seek God with all their heart as a part of fulfilling that plan and that promise for the people.

So, does God have plans for us and for this world? Absolutely. God sent God’s one and only son, Jesus, to declare God’s plan for grace for this world. We talked a lot about God’s grace last week and how it came to completion in Christ Jesus. So as we wrap up today’s conversation I want us to try to wrestle with and grasp the difference between God’s grand plan for love, grace, and forgiveness for this world, and how we are active recipients and participants in it, from God micromanaging our lives taking away our free will and assigning all blame to God for what happens in our lives and in the world around us. God didn’t cause those wildfires in Lahaina, but God is 100% present working in and through the hands and hearts of all of us who reach out to them in love as the plans they had for their lives have dramatically changed.

Through our words and our actions, we can be tangible expressions of God’s love for people when their plans have changed for the worse, reminding them that even in the worst of times God’s plan of love shown to this whole world will never change. God will never stop to share God’s love, grace, and forgiveness to this world even when every other plan in this world, whether God’s or ours fall through, because their is nothing greater than the love of God as found in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.