God’s Welfare Plan for Me

The only plan that I have really ever wanted to happen was to have a family, a job that I would really enjoy doing, and have a lively social network. And of course, to have a car that didn’t always breakdown and to have a cushion of money in the bank. None of that happened. Just the opposite in fact; no family, crummy jobs, no money, and a scarce social life. Then I’m told that the Lord has a plan for my welfare and not for evil, to give me a future and a hope. It’s easy to wonder what happened to that plan?!

I have to rethink what happened to me. There were always strings attached to money, so if I accepted a cash gift, it would propel me down a dirty muddy road. So, I only accepted money that would keep a salve on my conscience. That’s the way it was with jobs too. I was trying to maintain work in the health care industry but there seemed to be more doors opening in factories where self-indulgent lifestyles were prevalent. As far as girls, which I really try to enjoy, relationships always required that I become a calloused and rugged sidekick. I’m still trying to figure out what the “better half” is. Needless to say, because of my insistence to soothe my conscience my social network was scarce. It really makes me understand what it means to “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” as sated in Colossians 3:2. That’s a start to knowing God’s welfare plan for me.

With that said, I guess my welfare was looked after; I avoided a lot of self-destructions, and I did have something of a future and a little hope. Those are earthly benefits. But there is another meaning that is found in Jeremiah 29:11-12 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.” We have a home in Heaven…that is God’s plan for us, that is our future and our hope. Through Jesus, we are led away from the things that are very lethal to us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Our future here on earth may be dismal, but there is a bright day coming in Heaven. My health, my security, my social belonging, my esteem, everything is waiting for me in Heaven.

John 10:27 reads, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” I’ve heard many voices in the span of my life, there’s one, or there’s one, or there’s one. Sounds all the same. There’s a job, there’s a girl, there’s some social interaction, but those ones always led to actions contrary to “clean hands and a pure heart”. I’ve learned that hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd has nothing to do with sex, drugs, money, violence, owning a lot of things, and social acceptance. I’m hearing the voice of Jesus; I am a sheep of the Good Shepherd.