Does God “have a plan”?
A fellow Christian asked me a question that I struggled answering. For example, with the election, we hear so many people say, "God has a plan." Or when an impending downsizing is coming: "God has a plan for you." But what about situations such as a child in a third world country who is starving to death? Does God have a plan for the child? A child who suffers and dies and maybe not heard about Jesus? Can you pass along ideas on how to answer in love based on Scripture?
The “plan” people often have in mind goes back to 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.’” In that verse God spoke of the plans he had for the exiles who were living in Babylon. God’s specific plans were that the exiles’ captivity would last 70 years, after which they would be able to return to Judah and Jerusalem.
God’s plans for the exiles were very specific, and by means of prophecy God made those people aware of his plans. When we speak of God’s plans for people today, we cannot be as specific. In the Bible God makes general promises regarding his protecting love and providence. Because neither you nor I can know the mind of God (Romans 11:34), we can have difficulty identifying his specific plans.
Still, we know from Scripture what God wants and desires. He does not want “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). He wants his gospel shared with people everywhere (Mark 16:16), including children and their parents in impoverished areas of the world.
In addition, God wants his followers to share the blessings he has given them to meet and alleviate the physical needs of others (Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 13:16). When people waste God’s blessings or are selfish with them, it comes difficult to carry the burdens of others (Galatians 6:2).
The physical and spiritual plight of people around the world is a vivid reminder for Christians to ramp up their efforts to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). The prayer of the hymn writer is a good one to make our own: “O Master of the loving heart, The friend of all in need, We pray that we may be like you In thought and word and deed. Oh, grant us hearts like yours, dear Lord, So joyous, free, and true, That all your children, ev’rywhere, Be drawn by us to you.” (Christian Worship 491:1, 4)