Hope After Trial

I know many of you probably know this verse by heart from Jeremiah 29:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

But did you realize in what context these words were written? In verse 10 of that chapter Jeremiah says "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."

The future and hope came after Babylon. We love verse 11 by itself. We want a future and a hope; we want God's plans for us to come about. But what if that meant going to your own Babylon for seventy years? What if that meant you had to go through a time of great difficulty first? What if God's plans actually included the trials and difficulties to purge us of evil, to teach us His character, to reach those that need Him?

Let's not fret about our Babylons for the Lord knows where we are and that he will bring us back to a place of hope and a future in His hands.

Pastor Tom