God’s Plan for Our Lives (Part I)

According to Matthew 28, Jesus plan for His disciples was as follows:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Every one of us has the same mandate. Just as Jesus called the disciples to go out into the world, He calls us into the same ministry. Jesus specified what discipling others looked like, but He did not provide them with any specific titles/functions to accomplish the Great Commission. When the church was formed, as seen in the book of Acts, the disciples became a team and took on different roles to accomplish God’s plan. However, God’s plan for our lives is perceived differently nowadays.

Generally speaking, the believers are looking for their God-given purpose. In addition, those who know their God-given purpose, zealously are on a mission in trying to fulfill it. This kind of focus does not line up with the Biblical accounts.

Many use Jeremiah 11:29 to support that God has specific plans for their lives.

Some claim that we should seek God’s purpose for each of us individually. This is not in complete agreement with the scripture. If you read the entire Jeremiah 11, you will find that it refers to the nation of Israel, as a whole, while they were in captivity in Babylon. Jeremiah 29:11 was not referring to individuals. God spoke to Israelites giving them specific instructions about refraining from listening to false prophets. He gave them conditions as to how they should seek Him. Finally his great plan was to free them from Babylonian captivity if they sought Him.

God expects us to seek Him in humility and refrain from listening to false prophets. This will produce good fruit in our lives, and God can deliver us from our bondages. However, to use  Jeremiah 11:29 out of context is misleading and produces false expectations for believers.

 I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.