“I know the plans I have for you”

ByInHIM

Jer. 29:11

The Israelites did not obey God. They worshipped other gods and turned away from Him. God punished them and sent them away to captivity. Some were left behind, including Jeremiah.

During this time, Hananiah announced that their captivity would only be for two years and that the Israelites would return soon.

Just imagine such a good news in the face of hardships. It would sound good. It would have been well received by the people.

But, the LORD tells the people through Jeremiah that their captivity would be seventy years (Jer. 29:10). Seventy? Yes, seventy years; which means that the present generation would not come back. As such, the captives in Babylon were advised to build houses, live in them, to cultivate the land, to have children, to marry their children… (Jer. 29:5-6).

This was what the Israelites did not expect or even want to hear. What they wanted to hear was Hananiah’s.

The Israelites must have been worried.

Then God also said, “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. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (Jer. 29:11-14).

As human beings, we may not understand the situations we are in. We may be undergoing all sorts of difficulties and hardships. In such a time, all we need is a little good news, news that we want to hear, news that goes along with our thoughts. But such news are sometimes hard to come by. In trying to comfort ourselves, we often fall prey to false hopes and stray somewhere along the way.

But let us take courage and comfort in the LORD who knows the plans He has for us. Our sufferings may not leave us. But let us trust in the LORD because He knows what He is doing.

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