Always resolution!

Jeremiah 29:11 says ''I know the plans I have for you'. Sometimes it can sound like a clichd response. But if we read the whole of Jeremiah 29, we'll get a better understanding of how the promise in verse 11 fits in.

At the particular time and place that God said, 'For I know the plans I have for you,' it was not pleasant. Many Israelites had been taken prisoner and shipped off to Babylon. It's to these people, during their not-so-pleasant-exile, that God sent those words. And note Jeremiah 29:10 NKJV: 'After seventy years are completed at Babylon.' Resolution would be 70 years coming! Not an immediate, comfortable resolution. God takes care of them the whole way, but it's a day-by-difficult-day restoration. In that context, Jeremiah 29:11 isn't a neat 'everything will be okay', but a promise to help the Jews hold on in a place they don't belong. It's inspiration to keep our focus on God when everything feels like chaos.

Which means that Jeremiah 29:11 is filled with power, far more than a pat-pat clich to offer when someone's feeling directionless. Those promises are real, gritty hope in struggle. They're a reminder that, whether it takes 70 seconds or 70 years, God will bring us to a place of peace and safety.



So what now? Where has God made promises in your life (including Bible verses that speak to you)? Have you written them down in a journal? It may be good to do that. Writing them down can help you pray over them when you're feeling directionless.





— SCRIPTURE —

'I know the plans I have for you.' Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
— SOULFOOD —

1 Sam 20:30-23:29, Matt 23:23-39, Ps 98, Pro 17:1-3