Day 5: For A Reason

When you are in the middle of let down the last verse you want to hear, is Jeremiah 29:11. I know, because I moved home from college and had a boat load of graduation gifts glaring at me. I wanted to throw them against the wall and burn every note and inscribed object. Every text that contained this verse fueled my fire to throw my phone against the wall and delete every social media account, which I did a few times during those early years. Context is always important and Jeremiah 29:11 is a verse that is plucked right out of some big truths that have helped me get back on track with dreaming again.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a beautiful promise and I believe it is true, but there is more for us in this chapter than just this one verse. 

 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear 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 I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:10-14

The Israelites faced seventy years of exile in Babylon, and these verses are God’s promise to them for what will happen after that time. There is a difference between living through consequences and facing hard things.  We are not in exile. Jesus changed the narrative for us, by taking our place for our sin. God knows the plans He has for us and we will seek and find Him; He will be found by us. It is true. But this verse does not mean we will not face pain, that the things He allows are going to make sense or be easy to go through; even when we hold on to His promises. The hard things we face He allows for a reason, they do have a purpose and the main thing is that it will bring us back to where we need to always be: to Him. There is hope not because of our circumstances, but because of Jesus.

P.S. Sometimes it is healthy to delete your social media accounts and live, rest, and deal with hurt without all the noise. It helped me re-focus on what God says. 

- Hannah