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."
God has a secret agenda in all that He does. Yes, your suspicions are true. God has an agenda with all that He does. He has a reason as to why He wrote His Word. He has a scheme as to why He expects you to live a certain way. You will find this secret agenda is revealed in the verse above. God says, "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." His agenda is for you to live a peaceful life and to have an expected end.
This verse was not given in a time of peace; rather, it was given when Israel was in bondage in Babylon. The Israelites had to be wondering why God would take them from their homeland and make them live in a place where they were not familiar with all the customs. Though their sins had led them to this condition, God's ultimate agenda was to give Israel an expected end and to allow His people to live in peace.
The same can be said about the Christian. God has an agenda for you. God's agenda is for you to have an expected end. In other words, God's ways are predictable. God's way of life gives an expected end. The way of sin may give temporary pleasure, but it does not give an expected end. The way of the sinner leads to a hard ending. On the other hand, God's way always leads the Christian to a happy ending. God wants you to follow His prescribed way of living found in the Word of God because it gives an end that you will like.
Moreover, God's agenda is for you to live a peaceful life. Notice that God's thoughts towards you are "thoughts of peace." Yes, God's ulterior motive is for your life to be void of drama. God's Word will take the drama out of your life and give you a life of peace. God's lifestyle may not give you the immediate pleasure that sin brings, but it fills your heart with peace. There are so many people whose lives are filled with anxiety, and the whole reason is because they have not chosen to live the Christian life. When you live the Christian life, you will find that anxiety and drama will have no part of your life. Peace is the result of living the Christian life.
Let me encourage you to look no further than the Word of God to find how to live and what to do. God reveals His secret agenda in the verse above. He gave you His Word so that you can have a life filled with peace. He gave you His Word so that you will not have to wonder how your life will end. God's way of living gives an expected end, and the ending is a peaceful life.
Finally, one of the most encouraging thoughts you can take away from this verse is that God thinks about you. God says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you..." Friend, you are thought about by the God of Heaven. He has taken time to think about you today. Everyone else may have completely forgotten about you, but not God. As you go throughout your day, you can take comfort in the fact that God is thinking about you at that moment, and His thoughts towards you are peaceful. His thoughts towards you are to bring you to an expected end if you will only follow the way in which He commands for you to live.