Plan A to Z

Lucy Holt

Recently I did a school assembly for Year 13 who are in the middle of hearing about their university offers.

For some students this is an exciting confirmation of the plans they have always hoped for - others are finding disappointment and having to think again about their future. In the assembly, we looked at the very famous verse from Jeremiah 29 and then zoomed out to understand the context and earlier part of the chapter.

‘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 a hope and a future.’
Jeremiah 29: 11

This verse often features on Christian greetings cards or cheerful coloured stickers. It sounds very positive and like we will get what we want from the immediate future.

Sometimes life is indeed like this - and we get the thing we hope for; the relationship, house, job or family. Sometimes life gives people their ‘plan A’.
We celebrate with them, and are pleased to share in their joy.

This can be a huge blessing, but also comes with the risk of seeing this as an endorsement that God’s plan means easy answers.

The context of Jeremiah is very different from this.
The book is set in the period when God’s people were in exile in Babylon. They weren’t getting the plan they wanted, not plan A or B or C. They were far from Jerusalem with no sign of being able to return. The earlier part of the chapter is not a hopeful promise, but instead breaks the news that they will remain in exile for 70 years and need to make the most of their time in a foreign and difficult place.

Verses 5-6 say:
‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.’
Jeremiah 29:5-6

These are all things which involve a long term investment.
As anyone who has built (or even extended) a house, got serious about gardening, raised children or planned a wedding knows - these things are complex, messy and take years. The context of God’s promise is that first we put in the hard work in the place we are in, and later we will prosper.

Verse 7 says:
‘Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’
Jeremiah 29:7

This is very much not promising to move God’s people to where the grass is greener, but instead the the grass becomes greener where we choose to water it.

In the end, I love this context far more than the stand-alone verse, because it far more how life really is. Sometimes we get what we want quickly. Sometimes we put the hard work in to get what we want in time. To quote the band Oasis: ‘little by little, I’ll give you everything you ever dreamed of’.

Sometimes we might not see what we want yet and still be waiting. The Israelites had to wait 70 years in exile but God was still with them, and still had a plan. When ‘plan A’ hasn’t worked and we are closer to ‘plan Z’, but still going, perhaps that is more hopeful than one shiny neat verse.