Plans to give you hope and a future

 

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. "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 a hope and a future. " It's an inspirational verse. It adorns my Bible. It's written on graduation cards, Get Well cards, and offered as words of encouragement. There's nothing wrong with that. On it's surface, the verse is one of encouragement. Indeed, the Lord wants us to prosper and have hope (though, maybe not prosper in the way that many adherents of the Prosperity gospel would have us believe. 

One thing that can be dangerous about the Bible, though, is taking passages out of context. On it's surface, this is a wonderful verse that we can all cling too-- but focusing only on that aspect of the verse can lead to a feel good gospel, which is not Biblical. So, when I was reading this the other day, I asked myself what the context was.

Well, for starters, Jeremiah was a prophet and he had a message for the nation of Israel-- some of the messages were harsh and would be hard to swallow if you were an Israelite. Read verse one from Chapter 29 of Jeremiah: 'This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon." For historical context, Jeremiah told these words to Jews who had been living under the supremacy of the Egyptian and then Babylonian Empires before being carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Imagine what it would be like to live under the control of your enemies and then to be forced by those enemies to leave your homeland and settle in a foreign country. That’s the setting of the chapter that leads us to the words of encouragement… btu we have to wade through the tough times first. Such is life, amirite?

The passage continues, picking up at verse 4: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord."

I don’t know who what bad advice or messages the Israelites are getting, but wouldn’t it be nice today if we could get a direct word from the Lord about who is being deceitful to us? With the advent of social media, 24 hour news cycles and even the internet, it can sometimes be hard to wade though the lies and find truth. Discernment is important. Praying and being in the Word daily is important to know the truth and be able to discern the lies. So, this passage already has much more than a nice little slogan about prospering. It’s about life and the reality of life—t he good the bad and the ugly.

And here’s where it really scary if you want to claim Jeremiah 29:11 as your life verse. Jeremiah 29:10: “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.” That’s right, the blessing that follows is going to be preceded by seventy years in exile, living with your mortal for seventy years. Would you want to go through that to get your blessing? Would that be worth it? It’s encouraging to know that your trials have an end and can serve a purpose, but blessings don’t come for free—and sometimes you have to go through a season of pain and heartache before you can reach those blessings.,

But even then, the blessings don’t come free of charge. Let’s look at the passages after 29:11:  ^“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.^[b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

The Israelites will be receive their blessing after calling on the Lord, after seeking Him with all their hearts, only then will the Lord find them and free them from captivity.

I don’t say this to discourage you. I say this so that you will have a grasp on the reality of blessing. There are ebbs and flows, and there is often an intense darkness or trial before a blessing. Maybe this is needed to so that you can be humbled to accept the blessing, or be in a position to really appreciate the blessing. I know I tend to be more open to what the Lord has for me when I have been beaten and broken.

Don’t get me wrong, the Lord wants to bless you. He wants to give you hope and He wants you to have an amazing future. Just expect some bumps and some trials and tribulations along the way. This doesn’t mean that He has forgotten you. Maybe He’s simply preparing you to receive His blessing.