Peace

“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

The events in our world lately have many wondering where exactly God is leading things. Not just here in the US, but around the world. There are times that we wonder if we are headed in a direction of things being made great again. On some levels there are encouraging signs, but in other parts of the world we see war, inflation, politics, social and cultural upheaval. The list is endless of matters to pray about as we look to discern how God would have us react and respond to world and national events.

Remember – you cannot control the events and circumstances of life, but you can control your reaction to those events and circumstances. It can feel like there is no safe place. God’s word doesn’t promise us safety in this lifetime, in fact we’re told there will be challenges and troubles while we walk the earth. Our challenge is in how we respond to those events, and how we display the faith that is so easy to display in times of peace in times or strife.

There is a passage most of us are familiar with, and many of us probably have it up on a wall somewhere in our house – Jeremiah 29:11, which says: ” For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

The context behind this verse will change how you look at it. In this passage God is speaking to the Jews who had been taken into captivity in Babylon. Stop and think about that for a second. They had been taken from their home, so of course they had been asking God to release them so they could return to the land that had been taken from them.

This passage was actually a letter from Jeremiah to the Jews in captivity, much like the letters Paul had written to his fellow Christians. In this letter, if you start reading just one verse earlier, you’ll see that Jeremiah wrote the following message to His people:

“For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.” (Jeremiah 29:10)

In verse 11 – the one we all love to quote – when God is telling his people that they have a future and a hope he is telling them that it won’t take place FOR SEVENTY YEARS, meaning that it was a message to His people and the next generation, not those who were alive at that time.

While this may seem to be a hopeless verse, I find it very encouraging because it is God is telling His people that no matter what happens today and in the present times, we have a future and a hope. In context for our lives, that means no matter how hopeless our present may look, God’s people have a future and a hope and His plans are for our welfare! This one section of scripture is a powerful lesson in making sure we read to look for context and not just cherry pick out a line that sounds good, but to dive to find the deeper truth.

This also means we have to get our eyes off today’s headlines and look to the over arching plan God has for His church and His people. We may or may not see ultimate peace in our lifetimes, and more likely than not we will see wars, destruction and events that just don’t seem fair.

What is our goal? To respond in such a way that those around us see the strength of our faith not just in good times but in unpredictable times. This is not our home, and as things grow darker around us that means those around us need to see His light in us more and more..

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear…” (2 Tim 1:7).

Our peace comes from within and is truly unshakable.