Christians believe that “God Has A Plan For Me”.

The basis for this belief is found in Jeremiah 29:11

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.

That single sentence is the basis for Christians unfounded belief that God has a plan for their life.

The Truth Is…

Jeremiah 29:11 Applies To Jews Only

Christians have taken Jeremiah 29:11 totally out of context, something by the way, that they accuse everyone else of doing whenever a biblical phrase is demonstrated to be erroneous.

Here’s the complete thought

For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
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.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
Jeremiah 29:10-14

In Jeremiah, as in every other book of the Old Testament, God is speaking to the Children of Israel – not to anyone else. Most of Jeremiah is consumed with God describing what he will do to those who are not Jewish or those “children” who “hath taught rebellion against the LORD”. For example, three verses later God says:

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. Jeremiah 29:17

There are approximately 100 other phrases like the one above  in Jeremiah; all describing God’s wrath on non-Jews or on Jews who have failed to follow “The Law”.

There can be no doubt that the entire book of Jeremiah is for the Children of Israel; not you.

Even If God Had A Plan

God’s Plan For You May Never Reach Fruition

It Can Be Nullified By Someone Else’s Exercise of “Free Will”

Millions of young girls are in sexual slavery today – as we speak. We doubt that is God’s plan for those girls. However, we have been told by Christians who should know that God allows this to happen because the perpetrators of this atrocity have “free will”. Thus, “free will” trumps God’s plan. No matter how great is God’s plan for you, it may never come to pass because someone you don’t know, chooses to exercise his free will to violate you and nullify God’s plan.

It Can Be Nullified by Evil

Since God does nothing to prevent Satan’s evil, his plan for you can be denied by Satan.

Poverty, Disease, War and acts of God Can Nullify God’s Plan For You

God allows poverty and disease to exist and allows it to have more importance than does his plans for individuals. God probably didn’t PLAN for each of those who have died of starvation to die of starvation; He probably didn’t PLAN for each of those who have died of Aids, Malaria, etc to die those horrible deaths; He probably didn’t PLAN for those who have died in Tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, etc to die that way; It probably wasn’t his PLAN that those killed in inconsequential wars would lose their lives that way …BUT… apparently, they all died and suffered outside of God’s plan for them.

OR… God’s plan for those poor miserable souls was not a good plan from a human’s perspective. Whichever the case may be, the fact that “God Has A Plan” for you doesn’t mean very much.

This just in…

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: Ephesians 1:11

Hmm.. maybe that’s the source of the inane belief that God has a plan for you. Presumably written by Paul but no unbiased biblical scholar believes that Paul wrote it. Although it was presumably written for Jews and Gentiles, the problems exposed above with “God’s Plan” still obtain. If he has a plan, it is a lousy plan for 85% of the world’s population.