"Hope and a Future"

    "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future." If you are a Christian or even someone who is around Christians a lot, chances are you have received a card for some big event in your life that has Jeremiah 29:11 written on it. Whether it be a graduation, wedding, or any other life changing time of celebration, we Christians are always quick to bring out this verse. In the good and exciting times, this message is a wonderful reminder that God is taking care of us and making our paths straight. But in the hard times, it just doesn't seem to cut it. Sometimes, we look around at our lives and we ask, "Why did you let it happen this way, God? What about those plans to prosper me? What about that 'hope and a future' you promised?"
     Recently I came into one of these hard times. On Sunday, February 4th, I lost my uncle very unexpectedly. I was in a state of grief and shock, and to make matters worse, the next day was the start of a new semester of school. Life kept moving on and I had to grit my teeth and move on with it. I had to be okay, to continue living like nothing had happened, and for the first few days, I kept it together pretty well. But that Thursday of his memorial service, I couldn't save my tears for the shower anymore. It was a beautiful service filled with the promise of heaven, but part of me couldn't help wondering why things had happened the way they did. In the midst of my grief, I saw nothing but harm in the situation. I felt empty inside, like all my hope was just a tiny speck at the end of a tunnel of darkness. And most of all, I couldn't help but wonder why my uncle wasn't going to be a part of my future. But in these last few weeks, I have been reminded by God that the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 is one that exceeds the here and now. One that is eternal.
     I think that many non-believers and struggling Christians alike think of Jeremiah 29:11 as one of the great stock phrases of Christianity. It is popular, easy to remember, and makes you feel good when the timing is right. But when it isn't, it almost loses its meaning for us. This can happen sometimes because we think of it as a stand-alone statement when really it is only a small part of a much bigger story. At the time the book of Jeremiah was written, the people of Israel were suffering under Babylonian captivity and the prophet Jeremiah was writing to encourage them to take heart in their time of despair. Instead of singling out verse 11, we can see God's true promise for His people (us included) by reading verses 10-14:

“Thus says the Lord: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and 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, to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 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 I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.’”

     As you can see, God is not promising here for us to have happiness and prosperity on earth. He does want us to be happy and prosperous, as that was His original plan for us before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. But a day is coming when His true plan will be complete. A day when the Lord will come back and gather His children from every corner of the Earth and restore them to their heavenly home. Sin separated us, and just like in Babylon, we have suffered in our exile. We do not have a timeline of seventy years like the Israelites did, but we know that God’s plan is in action because phase one--sending His Son Jesus to overcome death and the grave and save us from our sins--is already complete. If we want to see the promise of God fulfilled, we have to look past our present troubles, acknowledging our sin and calling upon Him to save us because, as the verse said, He will hear us and let us find Him in our seeking. In this difficult time, I know that God's perfect will was satisfied when He called my uncle Danny home because even though it has caused mourning for the family that he has left behind, he is now experiencing the fulfillment of God's presence. A future in heaven is stretched before him, each moment more glorious than the last. He is in perfect condition, at perfect peace in the Father’s arms. Instead of expecting God to bless us with humanity’s version of a good and successful life, we as Christians must strive to be satisfied in whatever our situations may be because every passing day is one step closer to our restoration. Even as tragedy comes and the comforts of this world all fade away, God has given us a hope of salvation and a future that reaches to all of eternity.

-Hope