“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
There’s a good chance I’m going to rain on the parade of several of you on this one. We quote this verse when we’re going through a tough time, and are hoping that better days are ahead. It’s a claim that improved quality of life is most definitely just around the corner. Here’s the problem: what if you have terminal cancer? What if you’re imprisoned for your faith and will die in chains? The future looks pretty bleak.
Let’s look at the historical context of this verse and passage. King Nebuchadnezzar had defeated the Jews and sent the people to Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah wrote to these exiles in Chapter 29 to get comfortable and go on with their lives for now (verses 5-7). However, this was not to be their final home on earth. In 70 years they would return to Jerusalem (10). This was God’s hope and future for them.
Look at it this way, when you read in Genesis 12:1-3 that God told Abram: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you…” Do you then apply this to yourself as well? It is clearly stated in both passages who God is addressing.
Verse four in Jeremiah 29 clearly states: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon”. So one thing is clear: in its context this verse is specifically addressed to Jewish exiles a long time ago. God is returning the Jews to their homeland at a future date.
It is being quite liberal to use this to claim that your high school senior will get into the college of his choice or you will land a dream job.
Here’s a good passage to bring perspective:
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there,
carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”
James 4:13-15