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• hope

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

• hope

The Israelites were a rebellious nation. They served other gods and followed a path of adulterous unfaithfulness.

In the book of Jeremiah, God speaks to His people through the prophet Jeremiah to remind them that He has not forgotten them. And in chapter 29, Jeremiah pens a letter to the people who had been taken in exile to Babylon. In the midst of this historical context, we see God’s often-quoted promise to give us 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, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

While the time in Babylonian captivity was partially designed as discipline for Israel’s infidelity, it also served as an opportunity to share with other nations more directly about who God was and invite them into relationship with Him, the sovereign Lord.

Remember Daniel and his friends? What a testimony they gave to the Babylonian and Medo-Persian nations. God has plans to give us hope and a future. It just may not look like we would want it to at the time.

Ultimately, God is in control. Whether the things that happen in our lives are a consequence of our actions, a form of disciple, the product of our decisions, or the design of God, the most important thing to remember is that God has a plan—a plan to give us hope and a future.

God’s plan is divine, infinite, supreme, and the ultimate source of hope for a redeemed future.