“’For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.’” JEREMIAH 29:11 (New English Translation)
Many of the things that we endure may cause us to question if God’s plans for us are still in effect. We wonder how some things could possibly work for our good. When we go through hurtful things, our faith is tested; in the midst of enduring hurtful things, our convictions are confirmed. God promises us that His plans will not HARM us, yet we constantly endure HURTS. We typically view HURT and HARM synonymously, but God wants us to understand and appreciate that they are very different.
When we talk about HARM, we are categorizing things that bring decline; we are identifying things that cause damage and deterioration; we are recognizing things that lead to destruction. These ‘types’ all represent a state or condition. Things that HARM are just that – Things. And these things ‘do something’ to us. The result of what was done to us is recognized as HARM. And HARM can be extremely limiting and totally irrevocable.
Conversely, when we talk about HURT, we are talking unequivocally about our feelings. HURT is the feeling we have once we have processed what was done to us. Our level of HURT can determine how we respond to an offender, how we relate to other people and situations, and even how we view ourselves. Through God’s power, HURT can be healed and totally erased.
God’s plan may take us on a journey that is long, down a path that is rough, through a place that is difficult. That journey may have many things along the way that HURT us, but God guarantees that nothing along that journey can HARM us! When we embrace the healing that Jehovah-Rophe provides, there is nothing that can HARM us – For every decline will be followed by an ascent; every damaged place will be subject to Divine healing; all deterioration will be overturned by restoration; and what was destroyed will be rebuilt! In God’s plan, when we allow our HURT to be healed, nothing can HARM us, for the irrevocable HARM will meet with the power of the Immutable God!