The Best Laid Plan - 2/19/25

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The Best Laid Plan
Warren Martin

“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.” — Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” — John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

One of the most beloved of verses from the Bible has to be Jeremiah 29:11. And why not? Who doesn’t want to believe that God has plans to prosper us and not harm us, to give us a hope and a future. However, if you are calling on this verse in expectation of a wonderful day tomorrow, your circumstances might not agree with that expectation. For that is the planning of man and, as Steinbeck states in Of Mice and Men, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

Context is everything. What was God saying in this passage? For one, he wasn’t saying that everyone would have a radically better day tomorrow than they did today. In fact, it was part of a letter sent from Jeremiah to the captives in Babylon. Right before the often memorized verse, he writes, “For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place [Jerusalem].” (Jeremiah 29:10)

God was encouraging the captives who would continue be captive for at least 70 years. He encouraged them to accept it, settle down, build houses, seek peace with their captors and pray for them (Jeremiah 29:4-7). In other words, He wasn’t going to change their circumstances for at least 70 years. His plan was was bigger than the moment or a generation. His encouragement was in the fact that He knew their plight, understood it, and it was all part of His plan to restore His people.

It is the same idea communicated by Paul in Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

The best laid plans of man are always temporal. They are centered in ourselves, our moment in history, our struggles, our goals and our lifetime on this planet. God’s plans are eternal. They are focused on Him. They are driven by His will and understanding which far exceeds our wisp of a lifetime on earth. Which is why over and over the Bible encourages us to trust, believe and be content in our current circumstances. Because it is all going to end up the way God intends for it to be.

So, do we not matter? Does our suffering, hardship, need, pain and heartache NOT matter to Him? Absolutely it does! God intensely cares for you and everything you go through. However, as a Christian, God’s care for you and plan for your life is an eternal plan, not a temporal plan. As 1 Peter 5:6-7 states, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

God cares for you! His care plan is an eternal care plan, but it is not centered on you. It is centered on Him. His promises are true. He desires to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future, to save you from harm and He will do it all “in due time”.

That time might be today. It might be in years to come. It might be the moment we finally meet Him face to face. In the end, however, His plan for your life will come to be. So, no matter the circumstances we face today, the hardships or burdens; we should be humble, content, at peace, in prayer, and be about the business of building. Building our lives, families, communities and building them all in faith that God’s plan is the best laid plan!

We are right to claim this verse in our life when we do so in deference to God’s plan. It is when we claim it in effort to recruit God to our plan that we miss the mark. God cares for you. He has a plan for your life. Trust. Believe. Build. And rest assured He will fulfill His plan “in due time”.

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.