When I thought about what to write this week, Jeremiah 29:11 came to mind. Yes, that would be a good reminder, I thought. God has good plans for us. We can look forward to the future, even though we don’t understand what’s happening right now.
I decided to look at that verse in The Message version: “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
The end of that verse threw me when I read it. God’s going to give me the future I hope for? So if I just hope that the world is going to go back to normal and that none of my friends and family die from the coronavirus, He’ll give me that? If I just hope for a future with good health and material blessings, I’ll get that?
I realized I needed to look at the verses around Jeremiah 29:11 to make sense of that phrase.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.'” (Jeremiah 29:10-12 NIV)
Oh! So Israel was in captivity in Babylon. The future they hoped for was to come back to Jerusalem. That was God’s plan for them, too, so He was going to make it happen.
It might look like verse 12 says they’ll call on God and pray to Him after they get back to Jerusalem, but verses 13 & 14 make that more clear: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
The calling on God and praying to Him and seeking Him all would happen while they were still in captivity. They were living as slaves in a foreign land, but Jeremiah gives them the promise that eventually (after 70 years!) they’ll be able to go back to life as normal in Jerusalem. They’re encouraged to settle into Babylon and actually enjoy life there. Verses 5-7 urge them to build houses, plant gardens, eat, marry, have children, and seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon.
The note in my Bible for Jeremiah 29:4-7 includes these interesting thoughts: “Life cannot grind to a halt during troubled times. In an unpleasant or distressing situation, we must adjust and keep moving.” (NIV Life Application Study Bible, Zondervan, 2011)
We are certainly in troubled times right now. We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but we can have hope. God knows what He’s doing. He’s got it all planned out. He will take care of us and He won’t abandon us.
We have to adjust and keep moving as we call on Him, pray to Him, and seek Him each and every day. We can even look forward to what’s to come, because we know it’s in His plan.
“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 NIV)
Does your future seem hopeless right now? How can focusing on God help you to pray continuously and move ahead in faith instead of fear?
Thanks for these encouraging words Robyn!
You’re welcome, Judy! I’m glad they were helpful. I need to keep reminding myself of all this, especially right now. ~Robyn