FUTURE AND HOPE

November 9, 2022

“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

God is speaking hope to a people deported to Babylon at the beginning of 70 years of difficulty. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were some of those captives. The prophet Jeremiah also lived during that time and wrote this scripture that God has a good plan for the people of Israel even in a harsh situation.

So here we are thousands of years later, in the context of a new covenant, and these scriptures still pertain to us. In economic uncertainty, energy crises, wars, rumors of wars, famine, and pestilence – all these issues around us – this is the security-producing reality: God has good plans for us.

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13

What a privilege it is to be alive! God deeply loves and cares about us, and we have a purpose in this world. Because God has a good plan, it motivates us to draw near to Him. He’s not mad at us. Instead, He is our provider, and He is our source. And we can find Him when we seek Him with all our heart.

Press on!
Pastor Jeff Perry

PRAY THIS PRAYER
God, You have good plans for me to give me a future and a hope. So today, I come to You with everything in my life. With all my heart, I want to know You and walk out Your plans for my life. Please help me with my decision-making, with my responsibilities, with my family, with my career choices, and with anything upsetting in my life. I love You, Lord – in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

hope, noun
Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well-founded expectation of good.

Copyright © 2022 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Meditation “Psalm 1:2.” Holman Study Bible: NKJV Edition, Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN, 2013, p. 873.