Hammer on Anvil '

I graduated college in May 2009 and one of the few things I know I want to do is live and work overseas. Not as a missionary per se, but essentially doing what I'm doing now (working, living, hanging out with friends, etc.) in a foreign country; learn their language and about their culture. For the last 2 years, opportunities have presented themselves, but have not panned out. And not for lack of trying. With all these disappointments, the worse thing for me to hear is to have someone quote to me Jeremiah 29:11: '...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...' It's not that I don't believe the truthfulness of this verse, but what that truth is when taken in context troubles me. What if God's plan is that I stay put, what if His plan is not what I had in mind for myself?

The passage that this verse is taken from is a letter from the Lord (through the prophet Jeremiah) to the exiles in Babylon. The exiles had the idea that they would be there a short time and be able to head back to Jerusalem and they had false prophets confirming this thought. Instead, God's tells them to settle down and get used to their home; they'd be there awhile. (Jer. 29:4-7) Not exactly what the people wanted or hoped. Yet God says that he has plans for them and He will see it through. It might be nice to take verse 11 as a guarantee that God will give us what we want. However, that is not the way the Bible is structured nor is it the Gospel.

So, rather than lift out verses from the Bible as guarantees for what we think will make us prosperous; what if we instead remember the promise of Jesus that he will be with us always, despite the circumstances.