I Know What I'm Doing

In a world where sometimes we think we know what we're doing, and lots of times we don't know what we're doing, and perhaps trying to get a handle on what-the-heck-we're-doing, we hear God speak:

"Listen.  I know what I'm doing."

"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." --Jer 29:11 NRSV

Jeremiah 29:11 is such a beloved Bible verse for so many people.  It's on plaques and bookmarks; framed and written in calligraphy; on paperweights and scribbled on post-it notes.  It's all over.

Last night I realized it was written to a people in exile.  A people torn away from their homes and families, captured and dragged to a foreign land.

Exile.

Imagine it:

Being surrounded by unfamiliar sounds and smells and tastes and customs.
Torn away from everything you know and love.
Conscious that it will last a very long time . . . 70 years . . . perhaps your lifetime.

It sounds like a pretty sorry lot in life.

God's people don't always have it easy.  It's not smooth sailing just because you have faith.

God's people have it rough.

There are the typical valleys we go through . . . the ones in my life tiny compared to so many others'.

And there are the major ones: loss of health and life and loved ones, loss of job or shelter or source of food, war or violence or extreme injustice.

And God has words for us . . . spoken first to a people who knew they'd be in exile for 70 years:

God tells them that when 70 years are up, "I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home.  I know what I'm doing.  I have it all planned out -- plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.  When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen.  When you come looking for me, you'll find me.  Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."  God's Decree."   --Jeremiah 29:10-14, The Message

In the midst of our crises -- big and small -- there is God.

He knows what he's doing.

I'm glad someone does.