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4th March: Good Plans

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

God, through a letter written by Jeremiah the prophet, gave explicit instructions to Hebrew captives exiled in Babylon. He instructed them regarding family relationships, contacts with their community, and false leaders. He then focused their thoughts on the future to keep them pressing on through adversity. We too, as we undergo long and arduous years of medical training, need to heed God's reminder through it all. Three points in the Lord's declaration recorded above can encourage us.

First, there is preparation. Through all of our difficulties and distractions during our training year, God knows his plans and is prepared to implement them. God does not get distracted. He is not forgetful. He knows what he has in store for us and will not be caught unaware as history unfolds. Based on his overview of the big picture, he can lead us step by step. And based on our confidence in him, we can have assurance that he does know what he has planned and what he is doing. Thus, we can follow him step by step.

Second, God's plans for us are profitable. God is not merely using us as puppets in a cosmic drama. He wants us to benefit. He is working for our welfare. He wants the best for us. Even in the difficult times we can rest in the knowledge that he is actually bringing good for us.Third, God's plans are practical. Right now, his plans are useful to us. Whether we are in a time of peace and blessing or in a time of pain and bewilderment, there is a practical value in God's plans -- they give us hope. We can realise that no matter how good or bad things are now, they will get better. We need not lose heart amid difficulty. Captives in a strange land, Jeremiah's countrymen could look for and plan for a better future. And now, as pilgrims on a passing planet, we can plan for better days ahead. God's plans for our future give us hopeful optimism today.

Through our training and into our practice, we can be assured that God knows his plans and is prepared to bring them to pass. We can see his plans as good and profitable for us, and we can have practical hope in the future that God has planned for us. That's great, but the distractions of professional life still threaten us. God will not forget his plans; neither should we! We must remember our `first love' and continue to follow the God who will, step by step, unveil his plans before us.

Let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which
clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance
the race that is set before us (Heb 12:1).

Further reading: Je 29. Pr 3:5-6. Gal 1:6.

PRF