God has plans to give you a hope and a future - Jeremiah 29:11
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, NIV
More About This Verse
MEANING
God promises hope for the suffering. But if you’re here, you might be struggling with something and wondering, “why am I still suffering? When will this pain end? Where’s my hope? Where’s my prosperity?”
Sometimes, God’s plan includes a miraculous rescue and other times it is to let us grow stronger in the midst of hardship.
God knows all and has authority over everything that was, is, and is to come. He is not surprised by anything; and, in fact, He has made a plan for each of us. Even though we still make mistakes and sin, God declares that he still has good things in store for those who love Him.
None of us wants God’s plan to include struggles, but sometimes it’s for our own good and growth; sometimes it’s because God has made us strong enough to help others who need Him.
This verse was originally a promise to the Israelites who were in exile—forced from their homes in Jerusalem to Babylon under enemy rule. These people desperately wanted an immediate end to their suffering. And the message God provided was that He had an awesome plan of hope.
But first, God asked these people to stay where they were, grow, and be examples of God’s love to the Babylonians around them (see Jeremiah 29:5-7, 10). Imagine how hard it was for these people to hear it would take 70 years for God to fulfill His promise.
God doesn’t always provide an immediate escape. But why? Because, like the butterfly grows strong enough to fly by straining against the cocoon it struggles to exit, we also need to persevere through difficult times to become stronger and grow our faith. Like these Israelites, we might be asked to persevere through difficult times because it’s part of God’s plan to help us grow, and also to make us part of His larger plan to help bring all people to Christ.
God doesn’t promise riches, or perfect health, or a problem-free life. But, when we as Christians continue to believe and have faith in Christ, He does promise to be with us, to comfort us in times of need, and that we will rejoice with Him for eternity in heaven. And God keeps this promise to us in the work of Jesus, His son, who brings us peace with God.
EXPLORE THIS PASSAGE MORE
We get the most out of each verse when we understand them in context. So, feel free to dig a little deeper into the meaning of this verse with these resources:
The Message version says this verse this way:
“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (Jeremiah 29:11, MSG).
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