Hope and a Future

Day 169: Jeremiah 29-32

Jeremiah 29:10-14: This is what the Lord says: "You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land."

I include this passage in its entirety so that you can better understand the context out of which it is written. Jeremiah tells the people that they will be exiled to Babylon for 70 years. After that time, God will come and fulfill all the promises he has made to them. He knows the plans he has for Israel, and they are good plans, hopeful plans.

That passage is very meaningful to me. It shows me more about God's character and how he deals with his people. It shows he's a good God, a loving God, a God who wants to bring hope instead of pain and suffering. This is a God I want to know. This is a God I want to be one with. This is a God that makes me enthusiastic about my life in Christ. Like Israel, God knows the plans he has for us, and these plans are for GOOD. Good plans. A hopeful future.

This makes me smile.