For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
While this is a VERY popular Bible verse, it can be easily misinterpreted. God is not saying that all of our problems will disappear once we start trusting in Him. What He is saying, however, is that He desires what’s best for us. Ultimately, that includes living with Him in Heaven one day. He is also telling us that only He knows what’s in our future.
Here’s what I wrote in Give Up Worry For Good…
The vast majority of my worries can be summed up by a two-word question: What if? And even though I never kept score, I can state with absolute certainty that most of these potentially catastrophic problems either never took place or turned out much better than I expected. That still didn’t stop me from wasting hundreds of hours playing the “What if?” game. Even sadder than the wasted time was the needless suffering. Why was it “needless”? Simple: There was Someone who never left my side, who knew all along that I was worrying for no reason, and who would have been happy to help if I had turned to him.
In order to give up worrying and find peace we must learn to believe three facts – God loves us, God is all powerful and God is with us. Therefore, if He allows something unpleasant to happen to us, it’s only because it can help us grow closer to Him and reach our heavenly home.
Why waste time speculating about the “what if’s” which may never happen? Instead of focusing on “what IF”, let’s concentrate on “what IS” – God loves us, God is all powerful and God is with us. Furthermore, He only wants what’s best for us. Together, let’s keep working on trusting Him more.
