Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Jeremiah 29
Israel has been conquered by Babylon. The Babylonians have take the leaders of Israel captive and deported them to Babylon. You can image their despair. This chapter is a word of hope spoken by God through the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah tells them that God has not forgotten them. They should live with the hope that God has not forgotten them. God will act on their behalf. God will free them from captivity, it just will take sometime. Verse 11 encourages the people to have hope, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." As this verse gave hope to the people of Israel, it can give hope to us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Verse 11 is one of the favorites of my son-in-law and daughter in New Orleans. They moved there from Alaska a little over a year ago with high hopes for a music career for him. With all the "best made plans" for the future, my son-in-law got critically ill, was hospitalized for weeks, and had major surgery - without jobs or insurance. During his recovery when we were all still pretty "low," I sent them a card with Jeremiah 29:11 on the front - though I didn't realize it was a verse that they had been clinging to. They called in tears when they received that card and also a devotional book from a friend with those same words of Jeremiah on the first page! What a profound way God reminded us of His loving care! I praise God for the wonderful and mysterious ways that He works in and through us when we allow him to do so!
ReplyDelete