By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
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v11I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. – Jeremiah 29:11 (read from v4 to v12).
I am sure you are familiar with the song of John Denver entitled, Poems, Prayers, and Promises. The lyrics of the first, 4th and 5th Stanza, capture the existential angst brought about by the most recent life-changing and horrowing event but soothed and pacified by the message of Jeremiah 29:11.
The song goes:
I’ve been lately thinking about my life’s time
All the things I’ve done and how it’s been
And I can’t help believing in my own mind
I know I’m gonna hate to see it end
The day they pass so quickly now
Nights are seldom long
And time around me whispers when its cold
The changes somehow frighten me
Still I have to smile
It turns me on to think of growing old
For though life’s been good to me
There’s still so much to do
So many things my mind has never known
I’d like to raise ‘grandchildren’ (a family)
I’d like to sail away
And dance across the mountains on the moon….
The gist of the lyrics speaks to me as I ponder and reflect of my almost three years in retirement and especially what happened to me exactly one month ago. On February 16 I submitted myself to an invasive procedure called ‘angioplasty’ or stent. A catheter is guided through the artery into the part of the coronary (heart) artery that is blocked. The stent (platinum-silicone) is inserted along with a balloon catheter and expands when the balloon is inflated. The stent is then left to help keep the artery open.
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Four days prior to the procedure I was rushed to the Benguet General Hospital Emergency Room due to shortness of breath and chest pain while on our way to attend a wedding in Sagada (We were in Tublay when I asked to be brought to the hospital). I was transferred to the Intensive Coronary Unit at Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center and was diagnosed of ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME, CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, HYPERTENSION STAGE II. In layman’s term, there is something wrong with my heart. The cardiologist advised that I undergo angiogram to have a more exact diagnosis of my case. After angiogram the doctor told me of the ‘bad news and good news’ of my condition. The bad news: there are three blocked arteries in my heart and cannot be treated by medication; the good news: it can be treated either by an open-heart surgery (triple bypass) or by angioplasty. I was shocked that I don’t know what to do and what to think. I told the doctor to give me some time to decide. I was thinking that I will submit to angioplasty (which is less complicated and less expensive) some months later. But after hearing the unpredictable danger of heart failure and firm advise from friends from the medical field – and after so much prayer – I finally decided to submit myself to the procedure the following day. It was a sleepless night. Thinking what will happen, how would it feel, will it be successful? The cardiologist warned me that he can abort the procedure if he can not handle one of the arteries which is unusually curved and blocked and will go to the second option which is open-heart surgery. I was afraid. The fear of the unknown.
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Prayer to us clergy has become part of our day-to-day function that sometimes it just become spontaneous and cold. I can compose a good prayer that is poetic yet uttered or prayed wanting of sincerity and fire. But that night I prayed earnestly with only the words, “Lord have mercy on me, please heal me, forgive me of all my sins… but not my will, but yours be done…” over and over. The same prayer in my mind during the procedure.
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Christians facing difficult situations today can take comfort in Jeremiah 29:11 knowing that it is not a promise to immediately rescue us from hardship or suffering, but rather a promise that God has a plan for our lives and regardless of our current situation, He can work through it to prosper us and give us a hope. This notwithstanding or regardless of what we want or plan to do with our lives. This verse I made as my ‘life verse’ eight years ago when I was in rehab. It was set aside and forgotten but came back to me by and with the heart-changing angioplasty.
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As we gradually leave the tumultuous pandemic years and move forward to the unknown future, it is helpful to remember that God has a plan for our lives and this verse is just such a reminder.
Many Christians know and cling to the Jeremiah 29:11 verse by itself. But when we understand its historical and literary context, most will find that it takes on a deeper, more relevant, and even more powerful meaning for their lives. Understanding the context of a passage of scripture will help us avoid the human tendency of reading into scripture our own desired meaning and will instead help us draw out of scripture the original meaning intended by God and His prophet.
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For historical context, Jeremiah spoke these words to Jews who had been living under the domination of the Egyptian and then Babylonian Empires before eventually being carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. One can only imagine what it would be like to live under the domination of your enemies and then to be forced by those enemies to leave your homeland and settle in a foreign country.
For literary context, we discover from the previous chapter that Jeremiah has just pronounced judgment upon the false prophet Hananiah. Hananiah had told the people that God would break the yoke of Babylon, freeing the people to return home, within two years. While his message undoubtedly sounded appealing to the people, it was a lie and resulted in God removing Hananiah from the face of the Earth (Jeremiah 28:15-17). Instead, Jeremiah tells the people they would live in Babylon for at least 70 years. Therefore, they should settle down, build houses, marry and even pray for the peace and prosperity of the city in which they now found themselves (Jeremiah 29:4-10).
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When understood in context, we discover that the words of Jeremiah 29:11 were spoken to people in the midst of hardship and suffering; people who were likely desiring an immediate rescue like the one Hananiah lied about. But God’s response is not to provide immediate escape from the difficult situation. Rather, God promises that He has a plan to prosper them during their current situation.
Christians facing difficult situations today can take comfort in Jeremiah 29:11 knowing that it is not a promise to immediately rescue us from hardship or suffering, but rather a promise that God has a plan for our lives and regardless of our current situation, He can work through it to prosper us and give us a hope and a future.
Furthermore, Christians can take comfort in knowing that God promises to be there for us in these situations. For in the verses immediately following Jeremiah 29:11, God proclaims through Jeremiah that when you “call on me and come and pray to me… I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 19:12-13).
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What Does It Mean That God Knows the Plans He Has for Us?
In the context of Jeremiah 29, the phrase, “I know the plans I have for you,” refers to the plans the Lord has had for the people of Israel from the beginning. This verse is a reiteration of the promises of God, as well as the guarantee that He always keeps His covenants.
This verse served as an encouragement for the Jews in exile and should be a great encouragement for Christians today. God is not fickle, and He keeps His promises! Because the Father kept His promises to use the Jewish people in His plans, the whole world has access to salvation through Jesus Christ.
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God did not forsake His people, redeeming them for His glory and their good. When the Lord promises that we are saved, He means it. When Jesus promises to return for His church, we can have confidence in His word. As Jesus says in the New Testament, centuries later, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). God does not change, no matter how individuals or the world does, and believers can rest assured that He will keep His promises.
As our convention theme calls us to “Walk together with forbearance” inspired by the context of 1 Peter 2, we admit that unity in the church is requisite if we are to fulfill God’s mission today. This we can do by looking at Jesus Christ’s example of forbearance and with trust and confidence to God’s promise made to the prophets and fulfilled by Christ himself.
As we journey together fulfilling God’s mission and struggling with whatever life may bring before us corporately and individually, we are reminded and inspired by God’s words through the prophet Jeremiah.
“I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.” Lord, I submit and obey, not my will but yours be done. Amen.
(Devotional message shared during the post Diocesan Convention and first quarter 2023 Diocesan Council meeting on March 16, 2023).**
