Daily Journal: 2 April

The Nitty-Gritty of Hope and a Future

When you look at your future with hope, what does it look like?

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, “declares the LORD,” and will restore your fortunes

Jeremiah prophesied this to the Israelites when they were about to go into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. They were instructed to settle in their land of captivity and build, marry and live their lives. That was after the devastation they had already gone through when the Babylonians attacked their city, their families. Why did God allow it in the first place? Israel had turned their back on God. He let their enemy, the Babylonians, attack them in order to bring them back to Himself. It was the only way they would look for Him again.

God reassured them He knew the plans He had for them and it wasn’t to leave them in captivity, just existing and building lesser lives in a place they could never call home. He reassured them His plans did not include harm but prosperity; hope and a future they could look forward to that had the meaning and purpose they needed for a good life.

God exhorted them to seek Him with all their hearts and He would listen, and allow them to find Him. He was there to be found. He would ultimately restore what had been lost.

A future with the ability to make choices we desire without obstruction is the opposite of captivity. It’s what we can call prosperity.

It is vital to hope. Hope carries vision – without hope and vision, we die (Proverbs 29:18).

What does a future look like when we live in a time of settling? A time of waiting? That time is also the future from the past we had. We are led in stages. Everything has its purpose (Ecclesiastes 3) because God is a God of wealth – in the sense of goodness.

The Israelites were instructed to live and settle while they waited in hope. That’s our lesson, too. Simply to live in the hope for a better future is not meaningful. It brings discontent.

Why does God link hope and a future together? When the future is always the future, we cannot wait in a meaningless void of emptiness in the present. Even in circumstances that are not favourable to us, we know we are not where our ultimate appointed future is. Hope in the plans God has for us is of the highest importance when we’re living in circumstances that are akin to captivity; nominal choices in all levels of living.

This is the nitty-gritty of a hope and a future. We must live in the present with hope for the next stage of our future even while we settle and make meaning where we are.

Our future is not the hope. God is the hope of our future; every stage of it. Meaning and purpose must always be part of our present-day living. God’s plans in the present, and our ultimate certain future, bring well-being, goodness, understanding, and hope.

These three things will remain: faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

I pray today, that our hope will be placed in the hands of God, that we can settle in the present with meaning and thankfulness, and look forward to the plans God has for our future.