“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
As we close out 2019 and prepare for the New Year, we may feel that there is little hope for our future. Recent circumstances or past painful memories may leave us feeling alone and discouraged. We may ask ourselves, “Is there any hope?”
This question is asked everyday by thousands of people in thousands of different ways. When your home is destroyed by flood waters or a Typhoon, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you are sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for test results, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you feel stuck in your marriage, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you are unable to find a job, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When you keep struggling with an addiction, you ask, “Is there any hope?” When people keep rejecting you because of your commitment to Christ, you ask, “Is there any hope?”
I believe this was a question the people of Judah probably asked when they were taken into captivity in Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah sent his first letter to them while they were in captivity and wanted them to realize that God “caused” them “to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon” (29:1, 4) so they would trust that He is in control. He advised them to make the most of their time during their 70 years of captivity by building “houses,” planting “gardens,” marrying, having “sons and daughters,” and anticipating grandchildren (29:5-6). They were to “seek the peace of the city” where they now lived and “pray to the Lord for it” so they would be blessed as God blessed the city (29:7). God warned them not to let their “prophets and diviners who are” with them to “deceive” them into thinking their time in captivity was short (28:8-9) because He had already said it would be for 70 years (29:10; cf. 25:11-12).
God’s ultimate plans (“thoughts”) for His people were “of peace, not of evil, to give” them “a future and a hope” (29:11). At the end of their captivity, God’s people would “call upon” Him and He “will listen” to them and bring them “back” to the land He promised them (29:12-14).
Listen carefully to what God is saying in verse 11. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you.” God is thinking of you. When believers feel hopeless, they may feel that God has lost their address. They conclude that God does not care about them nor pay attention to them. But God is saying that you are important to Him, so much so, that He is thinking of you.
But you may wonder, “What kind of thoughts does God have toward me?” If you have unresolved trauma in your past, you may fear that God’s thoughts toward you are “evil,” and He is plotting to harm you. God assures us that His “thoughts” or plans for us in the future are filled with “peace, not of evil.” God is not making plans for you that are filled with chaos and evil. He is planning a quiet and tranquil “future” for you that is filled with “hope.” Hope is the confident expectation of good from God.
God may have led you to read this article today so He could say to you: “Don’t give in to discouragement or despair. Don’t give up, look up. Don’t despair, turn to Me prayer.” If you have believed in Jesus Christ for His gift of everlasting life, you need to know that Jesus Christ is thinking of you and believes in you. He is on your side and nothing can separate you from His love (Rom. 8:31-39). He wants you to see yourself through His eyes so that you can live a victorious Christian life that is filled with confidence and hope!
If you do not have Jesus Christ in your life, He wants you to know that He has been thinking of you before you were ever born. He longs to be in a personal relationship with you. But we all have a problem that separates us from God. Our problem is called sin. Sin is when we disobey God with our thoughts, our words, and our actions. But God does not want any of us to be separated from Him, so He provided a solution to our sin problem. The Bible says, “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23b). God loved us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to take our punishment on the cross and rise from the dead so we could receive everlasting life as a free gift by believing or trusting in Christ alone (I Cor. 15:1-6). Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). Christ now invites you to trust in Him alone (not your good life, baptism, or church attendance, etc.), and He will give you everlasting life as a free gift which can never be lost (John 10:28-29).
After you put your trust in Christ alone to give you everlasting life, you can be assured that God has a future for you that is filled with peace and hope! You can now talk to the Lord through prayer at any time and at any place about anything.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me that I am important enough for You to think of me. Sometimes I feel forgotten and unimportant to You, but the truth is You are always thinking of me. Please help me to believe that Your thoughts or plans for me are filled with peace and hope, not chaos and evil, so I can trust You to do what is best for me. Each day when I awake, I can now anticipate good from You through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for renewing my sense of hope through Him. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.