Jeremiah 29:11
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NRSVUE)
We have a granddaughter who will graduate from High School this spring. She is very busy applying for and visiting colleges. So many choices are jamming her mailbox every day. It can be a time of tremendous stress and anxiety for a high schooler to really start planning for the “grown up” part of their lives. To me, this verse from Jeremiah always feels like a graduation slogan in a nutshell. Future. Hope. Plans. Welfare. What a great promise from God to say these words to her (and to us).
Jeremiah was bringing this message from God to the exiles from Judah. He is asking them to be patient and to live their normal lives in Babylon. He tells them to go ahead and marry, have children and work. He actually mentions that it might be 70 years before they might return to Judah. Now that is asking for patience!
In this verse, God (through Jeremiah) is reassuring the Jewish people that he hasn’t forgotten them. That He has a plan for them and it includes a future of hope and good things. Isn’t this what we all need to hear in our lives? In our everyday lives we have learned to trust and be patient in many things. As little kids in school, we learned to do our work in the classroom before we could go out to recess. As secondary education or adult students, we learned to do our best on class work to receive a better grade, higher degree or be certified in a skill. As individuals, we work our way up from beginning jobs to positions with more responsibility and better pay. Many times asking God to be with us on this adventure we call “life”.
Sometimes you may feel like you are “in exile” and things are just not lining up like you had hoped. You aren’t where you thought you would be at this point in time. Listen to Jeremiah’s words of comfort, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Amazing words we all need to hear from God.
Questions for Reflection:
- When have you felt like you were in exile? Who did you turn to?
- Have you had to work on patience in life? How has it helped you?
Prayer
Dear God of all exiles,
Help us to trust you in all that we do. Thank you for holding our hand and walking along beside us as we navigate through good and difficult times. Your words give us hope and peace. Amen
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