"What Are The Plans He Has For Us?"

This morning we are going to look at the famous verse from chapter 29:11“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.” We love this one. We put it on coffee cups and hashtag it on instagram. When our football team wins the Super Bowl we know that this was on God’s mind. This is our jam.
There are a lot of people who will tell you exactly this. God desires you to have a life of welfare not evil. You will get the job that you want with the salary that you want. You will have a family and a bunch of kids and when you do they will listen to you. You will get that house. You will have a great retirement. All you have to do is have faith in this promise. God’s plan for you are welfare and a future. Pray the prayer, say the thing, and God will richly provide for you. Money, blessings, riches, all those things, just have faith, after all Isn’t God a God of love?
But what happens when it looks like this isn’t isn’t the case? What happens when it feels like life is squashing you under its boot? What happens when you’ve prayed the prayer but life got harder? What happens when money isn’t there? When you’ve raised your children but as they make their own choices they choose to ignore a relationship with the God you love? What happens when there’s loss, death, pain, hurt, suffering, sorrow, when you feel depressed, lost, adrift? Has God lied? Does He forget the promises he makes? Does he not plan to give us a future and a hope?