Misused Verses: I Know the Plans I Have in Store for You!

August 3, 2025

We’re in a message series about some misused verses in the Bible! Some verses we love, but we can take them to mean something they do not! I think that’s good, they mean something deeper. They tell us more about God and his love than we think.

Today we’re talking about the prophet Jeremiah, who in Jeremiah 29:11 said, “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 future.” I love this verse! It’s God saying, “Everything will be ok.” Sometimes I really need that, do you? It’s very comforting! I have sent out note cards with that verse. I love to preach on it in graduation season. It’s the kind of verse that is on coffee mugs. You read it and you start your day feeling better, trusting God will make everything work out!

If you love that verse as much as I do, I’m going to rain on your parade a little bit. If you read the verse right before it, 29:10, you find out the promise of hope and a future is not coming anytime soon! Jeremiah says, ^10 “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.” Seventy years!  That verse is God saying, “I’ll give you a future and hope, but you have to wait 70 years!” The 70 years part is not on a coffee mug! What kind of a promise is that? Here’s the first way this verse is misused: we quote verse 11 about the beautiful future God has planned for you but leave out verse 10 where God says that future starts 70 years from now!

The second way Jeremiah 29:11 is misused is we think it’s God’s promise to us, when it was not for us. It was written by the prophet Jeremiah. This is back in the Old Testament, when the people of Judah had sinned; they didn’t listen to God or the prophets, and they worshipped other gods. God was angry, he let a foreign nation, Babylon, destroy Jerusalem, tear down the temple and send the people to be servants in Babylon. They didn’t fly first class to Babylon. They travelled 900 miles on foot! It took them 3-4 months to get there! I would need some comfort if I were them! God spoke comfort to them in Jeremiah 29:11, of a future and hope. He promised that in 70 years, they would come back to their homeland.

The people knew they had done wrong, and God was punishing them! You see, in the Old Testament, God had an agreement with the people of Israel. It was a covenant or contract between God and the people of Israel. Over and over in the OT, God says, if you obey me, I will bless you! But if you turn from me and do evil, I will punish you. For instance, in Deuteronomy 11:26-28 Moses says, “Today I am giving you a choice. You may choose the blessing or the curse. ²⁷ You will get the blessing if you listen and obey the commands of the Lord your God that I have told you today. ²⁸ But you will get the curse if you refuse to listen and obey the commands of the Lord your God. So don’t stop living the way I command you today, and don’t follow other gods that you don’t know.

This was a promise and a warning to the whole nation. I remember when I was in grade school. If a few people in class misbehaved, sometimes our whole class got punished. This was how the covenant or contract between God and ancient Israel worked, some of the people might obey God, but if the king and other people disobeyed, the entire nation would be punished.

The people learned to look at their circumstances, the circumstances of the entire nation, to determine if they had been good, or bad! When they had to walk 3-4 months to Babylon, they knew they had disobeyed. They knew God was punishing them. That was the old covenant.

But if you are a Christian, and you follow God, you are a person of the new covenant. We don’t look at our circumstances, how our life is going, to know whether or not God loves us, if God is happy with us, or if God cares for us. Instead, we look to the event that happened on a hill outside of Jerusalem! Because of Jesus death and resurrection, if you put your faith in God, you know you are in a right relationship with God and don’t need to wonder if God is with you! The first Easter, God removed everything that stood between you and Him.

The Old Covenant is not our covenant. The Old Testament is a wonderful part of our faith. God speaks to us in the Old Testament. But the promises of the Old Testament are not meant for us today.

Instead, at the last supper, Jesus said “This cup is the new covenant the new arrangement, in my blood. It is being established in my blood poured out for all of you.” God in Jesus brought us better promises. Jesus promised life everlasting with God. It’s a better promise. Because in the Old Testament, the old covenant, didn’t even cover eternal life. God didn’t promise that.

God through Jesus brought us a new covenant. So now, we don’t look at our circumstances and how life is going to know whether or not God is happy with us. God did something new when he sent Jesus. Because He loves us, He saved us. God does not deliver you from all your trials. Instead, He offers you grace and mercy to help you in your time of need.

If your life is going great, you’re happy and healthy, and you have no weeds in your lawn, that’s wonderful! I’m happy for you. Persevere in faith during the good times because you won’t as much sense a need for God.

Or maybe things aren’t going well. You’re going through divorce, or worried about a prodigal son or daughter, or you’re going through a health crisis, job loss, or financial need. Maybe you wonder, “”Where’s God?” 2000 years ago, a child was born to show how much God loves you and cares for you. Fix your eyes, not on your troubles, but on Jesus. Sometimes there’s no happy ending. You walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Verse Hebrews 4:16 in the bulletin says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

The early Christians had extraordinary faith! They weren’t celebrities or influencers. You might look at them and think they had terrible lives! They suffered prison, beatings, flogging, and were thrown to the lions. They weren’t looking for a life without problems. They are a witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ. Because of them you and I worship God today. They are such an inspiration to me. They teach us, God does not deliver you from all your trials. He offers you grace and mercy to help you in your time of need.

Jeremiah quoted God, “I know the plans I have in store for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a future and for hope.” 70 years, later, God fulfilled his promise and finally brought them home. God doesn’t promise you an easy life. Good things and bad things will happen to you. But if you put your trust in God and follow Him, you’ll see his love surrounds you. He has mercy for all your sin and offers strength to help, in your time of need. Amen.