"I Know the Plans I Have for You" by Hannah Ice
Life is a rollercoaster. It consists of many ups and downs, twists and turns. Have you ever felt like your life couldn’t get any better and then all of a sudden you get thrown a curve ball and everything begins to fall to pieces? Pretty much everyone has, and it has happened to me more than once.
Every year from 2011 to 2014, I lost a loved one. In 2011, I lost my mom to cancer after God told her she would be healed. At the time when my mom was battling cancer, I really believed that was the hardest thing I would every go through. In 2012, I lost my personal American hero— my grandpa. He fought in WWII and was a POW. I always looked up to him for the sacrifices he made for this country. In 2013, my whole world was shaken when my other grandpa, “Bobie,” passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. After my mom passed away, Bobie started to take care of my like my mother did and made sure I was always taken care of. Losing him felt like losing another parent. In 2014, I lost my grandma Ice after she had suffered from Alzheimer’s for years.
Each loss was hard, and they never got easier. Somewhere along the way, I began to believe and actually became accustomed to losing a significant person in my life every year. It was the coping mechanism I used so that I could keep moving. Growing up, I was the girl who hated funerals and would do anything to get out of going to them, but they soon became a part of a routine.
There was one scripture that God kept throwing in my face all these years. Everywhere I looked, I kept seeing it. Everywhere I went, I kept hearing it:
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)- “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.”
I remember thinking, “Okay, God I know you have a plan, but do you have to take away everything that is good in my life?” I always told myself when something bad would happen it was part of God’s plan and He was teaching me something I would need in the future. I thought maybe someone else would experience something similar, and I was supposed to help them through it, but it stopped there. That was all I believed God was telling me. It was not until recently that I began to think more about this verse and exactly why God kept screaming it at me.
Let me break it down for you:
1. “I know the plans I have for you”
Our Father has our whole lives planned out. We have to accept that He is in control and his plan is much greater than the one we have for ourselves. Believe me, I know it can be hard to submit and trust that God’s plan is better than our own. I used to ignore that God was in control. I wanted to be in control of my own life, but I came to learn that the plans I had for myself were not really working out for me. In high school, I was always the girl with a plan but when my plans started crumbling I did not know what to do. I still do not know exactly what I am going to do but I am trusting in God that His plan is better than anything I can come up with myself.
2. “Plans to prosper you”
According to Google, the definition of “to prosper” means “to flourish physically,” “to grow strong and healthy” or “to make successful.” Success means different things to different people. To me, I will know I was successful when I hear the words from God, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” because then I will know that I lived my life according to His will.
3. “Not to harm you”
When I read this verse it was like God had put the words in BOLD or highlighted them for me. He will not harm me. He will not harm you. Do I need to say it again? Now I am not saying and God is not saying that your life will always be rainbows and butterflies. Bad things will inevitably happen, but it is how you react to those bad things that will determine how it will affect you. Just because you are going through a rough patch does not mean you get to give up. That is what Satan wants you to do. God wants you to keep moving on and seeking him if your everyday life.
John 16:33 (NIV) says, “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
4. “To give you hope.”
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) says, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
God is giving you the hope that will renew your strength so that you can keep going and pushing past the hard times that are thrown in your way.
5. “And a future”
Our Heavenly Father has this plan for us that is so great we would not believe Him if He told us the whole story all at once. We would be overwhelmed. That is why He just gives it to us in pieces. The hard time or struggle you are going through right now is not the end of you. God has a bigger plan and you just have to trust in Him, because I promise you do not want to miss it.
I am sure some of you are thinking, “So you are telling me that God not only has a plan for me, to prosper me, He is not going to harm me, He is giving me the hope I need to renew my strength AND He also has a future for me? Yep. No person on Earth can give you all those things. Only our Father can.
It took awhile before I actually believed everything God was revealing to me in this scripture. Now that I do, I cannot wait to see His plans for me. It is like this fire inside me that cannot be contained. I look forward to seeking him in my daily life and I just want to shout it from the rooftops about the love and peace I have found.
Life is a rollercoaster. It consists of many ups and downs, twists and turns. Have you ever felt like your life couldn’t get any better and then all of a sudden you get thrown a curve ball and everything begins to fall to pieces? Pretty much everyone has, and it has happened to me more than once.
Every year from 2011 to 2014, I lost a loved one. In 2011, I lost my mom to cancer after God told her she would be healed. At the time when my mom was battling cancer, I really believed that was the hardest thing I would every go through. In 2012, I lost my personal American hero— my grandpa. He fought in WWII and was a POW. I always looked up to him for the sacrifices he made for this country. In 2013, my whole world was shaken when my other grandpa, “Bobie,” passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. After my mom passed away, Bobie started to take care of my like my mother did and made sure I was always taken care of. Losing him felt like losing another parent. In 2014, I lost my grandma Ice after she had suffered from Alzheimer’s for years.
Each loss was hard, and they never got easier. Somewhere along the way, I began to believe and actually became accustomed to losing a significant person in my life every year. It was the coping mechanism I used so that I could keep moving. Growing up, I was the girl who hated funerals and would do anything to get out of going to them, but they soon became a part of a routine.
There was one scripture that God kept throwing in my face all these years. Everywhere I looked, I kept seeing it. Everywhere I went, I kept hearing it:
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)- “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.”
I remember thinking, “Okay, God I know you have a plan, but do you have to take away everything that is good in my life?” I always told myself when something bad would happen it was part of God’s plan and He was teaching me something I would need in the future. I thought maybe someone else would experience something similar, and I was supposed to help them through it, but it stopped there. That was all I believed God was telling me. It was not until recently that I began to think more about this verse and exactly why God kept screaming it at me.
Let me break it down for you:
1. “I know the plans I have for you”
Our Father has our whole lives planned out. We have to accept that He is in control and his plan is much greater than the one we have for ourselves. Believe me, I know it can be hard to submit and trust that God’s plan is better than our own. I used to ignore that God was in control. I wanted to be in control of my own life, but I came to learn that the plans I had for myself were not really working out for me. In high school, I was always the girl with a plan but when my plans started crumbling I did not know what to do. I still do not know exactly what I am going to do but I am trusting in God that His plan is better than anything I can come up with myself.
2. “Plans to prosper you”
According to Google, the definition of “to prosper” means “to flourish physically,” “to grow strong and healthy” or “to make successful.” Success means different things to different people. To me, I will know I was successful when I hear the words from God, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” because then I will know that I lived my life according to His will.
3. “Not to harm you”
When I read this verse it was like God had put the words in BOLD or highlighted them for me. He will not harm me. He will not harm you. Do I need to say it again? Now I am not saying and God is not saying that your life will always be rainbows and butterflies. Bad things will inevitably happen, but it is how you react to those bad things that will determine how it will affect you. Just because you are going through a rough patch does not mean you get to give up. That is what Satan wants you to do. God wants you to keep moving on and seeking him if your everyday life.
John 16:33 (NIV) says, “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
4. “To give you hope.”
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) says, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
God is giving you the hope that will renew your strength so that you can keep going and pushing past the hard times that are thrown in your way.
5. “And a future”
Our Heavenly Father has this plan for us that is so great we would not believe Him if He told us the whole story all at once. We would be overwhelmed. That is why He just gives it to us in pieces. The hard time or struggle you are going through right now is not the end of you. God has a bigger plan and you just have to trust in Him, because I promise you do not want to miss it.
I am sure some of you are thinking, “So you are telling me that God not only has a plan for me, to prosper me, He is not going to harm me, He is giving me the hope I need to renew my strength AND He also has a future for me? Yep. No person on Earth can give you all those things. Only our Father can.
It took awhile before I actually believed everything God was revealing to me in this scripture. Now that I do, I cannot wait to see His plans for me. It is like this fire inside me that cannot be contained. I look forward to seeking him in my daily life and I just want to shout it from the rooftops about the love and peace I have found.
