Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser
People think as they get older, they get sick, and things fall apart. There are a lot of people who don’t have any confidence because they see so many people fail, and they say all these happen when you are old. Or all these people started well but they never finished. So, because of that, they are comparing themselves with others. However, God’s plan is to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11). God has prophesied things over you that no sickness or plague will come near your dwelling. You will not fail. Even in the Old Testament, we read about Moses that at the age of 120 years, his eyesight wasn’t dim, and his natural force didn’t evade. “And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated” (Deuteronomy 34:7 ASV). At 120 years, he was still climbing mountains. This is in the Word of God, and God is no respecter of a person. What we have today is even superior to what people had in the Old Testament time. My friend, you are destined to live a successful life, so just believe what God is saying.
What we have is superior to what Moses had. I can say that this is God’s plan for my life, and I need to cooperate with Him, and that’s the right attitude for us to have. If we will cooperate with Him and believe in Him, then obviously we can have an expected end that God has set for us. Before we were born, He set before us an expected end. I don’t have to be fearful about things going on around the world. People are however comparing themselves with others. If we compare ourselves with others, we will not go for God’s best. 12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us – a sphere which especially includes you” (2 Cor. 10:12-13)
This is what the apostle Paul is saying to the Corinthian church. He said; we don’t compare ourselves to others. I see even ministers who started out good and then got caught up in embezzling money. There are some of them who abuse their power, get into sexual sin, and misappropriate money. We see so many people fail so that makes you think how am I going to make it? But you can make it because God has a plan for an expected end and if I’m willing to cooperate with Him, and have that attitude to cooperate with Him, then I can get there. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV). This was Jerimiah writing to people who were taken captive and put into exile in Babylon. And he said God has good plans towards you, peace not evil to lead you to an expected end. The letter wasn’t for people who were prospering at that time. Maybe your situation is not good, and you look at yourself and hear a message like this, and you are saying, how can it be, I can’t see where I’m going. But Jeremiah wrote this to people who were taken captive.
" You are destined to live a successful life, so just believe what God is saying. "
Jeremiah 29: 1 says, “Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon”. So, Jerimiah 29:11 was not for people who were in a situation where everything was going on well. It was for people who were held captive. Jeremiah 29:1 is the letter. We read verse 1, and we turn to verse 11 and he is saying, don’t lose hope. These people were in a bad situation. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and took all the Israelites captive and brought them to Babylon. He devastated Jerusalem and it was terrible. These were the people that Jeremiah was writing to. It’s important to get this in context because we turn over and read Jeremiah 29:11 and we think this is for the people who are ministers or people who are prosperous and have everything going well. But He was writing this to people who were carried captive.
They were being treated as second-class citizens. They were in a captive land, and everything in their lives was bad. However, the Bible says, God said, I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of hope and not evil, thoughts that will lead you to an expected end. And if you are reading this, I will encourage you that all is not lost. In God’s kingdom, there is nothing wasted. You can rise again and move forward and go for God’s best. You can rise again and do what God has asked you to do. And the success that he created you for, you can accomplish it. You may think you have problems, and maybe things are just bad, but the Bible says that God knows the thoughts that He has towards you. Be encouraged and go for God’s best. It’s not God’s will for us to suffer and go through evil things. It’s not God’s will for you to be sick, it’s not His will for you to be poor, it’s not God’s will for you to be oppressed. And yet people find themselves in such situations. Make sure that you are going for what God has destined for you because a life of success has been written down in heaven and you have to work for it. Just cooperate with God and everything is going to be well with you now, and even forevermore, Amen!
