God’s Promises Stand Firm, Even in the Face of Evil

“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” (Jeremiah 29:11).

It doesn’t take long for anyone who reads the Bible to discover that God has made special promises to His own, no matter when or where they live. To Jacob, who was fleeing for his life, having stolen his brother’s inheritance, God said, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go[.] I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you” (Genesis 28:15).

When Joshua took over the leadership of the rag-tag band of men and women who had wandered in the wilderness for forty years, God reaffirmed the promise He made to Moses. Again, God said, “Today I will … exalt you in the eyes of … Israel, so they [will] know that I am with you as I was with Moses” (Joshua 3:7).

Even when Israel had turned their back on God, the faithful were assured of God’s presence and help. At least six times, God repeated His promise to be with Jeremiah, who was periodically thrown into prison, beaten and treated as an outcast.

In Jeremiah 29:11, there is a wonderful promise which says, “‘For I know the plans [that] I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you [a future and a hope.]'”

Yet in scrutinizing the lives of these to whom God made promises, you quickly realize Jacob was deceived by his father-in-law and almost killed by his brother, Jeremiah was an outcast among his own people, and Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar’s sword and people were slaughtered and taken in chains back to Babylon.

Now, the New Testament makes the promises of God even more personal. Twice, New Testament writers affirm that Jesus said He would never leave or forsake His own. Yet, we read that both Peter and Paul were often thrown into prison. Paul’s litany of suffering includes being shipwrecked, beaten with rods, receiving the thirty-nine lashes of a Roman soldier’s whip some five times, and countless other afflictions which would cause more than a few to wonder if those promises should be taken literally and personally.

And this brings the present into focus. If God’s promise extends to us today, and if our reading of the New Testament leads you to conclude those promises are for us, then how do you reconcile our expectations with difficulty, disasters, and losses? Now, some make no attempt to whatsoever. But others see God’s hand in both the good which we like and the difficult and challenging which we would prefer to avoid. They see God’s hand not only allowing the fiery furnace but protecting His own in the fire.

Now, Paul believed that a sovereign God allowed evil in the world which still accomplishes His purpose. To the Philippians, he wrote from prison, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). To the Ephesians he said, “In Him we were … chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will” (Ephesians 1:11).

No, God doesn’t expect you to be passive to evil or difficulty, but to challenge it, realizing that evil must be faced while we must endure its consequences which we can’t stop.

Evil in our world doesn’t negate or disallow the promises that a loving God has made to His children. Such as Jesus saying, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Friend, God will have His payday someday, so until then, you can trust Him and realize nothing can destroy or void the promises that cannot be broken. In the meanwhile, trust Him and realize He knows your name, He knows the circumstances that confront you, and He has promised to take you through that dark valley.

Resource reading: 2 Corinthians 6