"For I know the Plans I have for You": Where is the Hope and Future as One Sits in Seventy Years of Captivity?

"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 upon 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." Jeremiah 29:11-13

Jeremiah. The weeping prophet. Doesn't it seem ironic one of the most quoted and appliqued verses in modern Christianity is found in one of the most lamenting books of scripture? I have to admit, whenever I see this verse walking around on the back of a t-shirt, hanging from a wall, or posted to one's social media I bristle. The potential misunderstanding or misapplication of this verse has long been a pet peeve of mine. It still is, but I vacillate between a deep frustration and hopefulness that perhaps I've not given society enough credit all these years. 

I worry when people read or quote this passage there is an underlying expectation of continual external peace, prosperity, good circumstances, or a genie in a bottle faith. I've wrestled with God's sovereignty this past year more than ever before in my life. I live knowing that God does indeed allow very terrible and crushing circumstances into our life, thus reconciling them with these verses in Jeremiah 29 without the full context from whence they came is nearly impossible. The sometimes misuse of this verse seems another example of a culture unwilling to face the really hard things. How do you quote this passage to someone who has sought the Lord on their face for life of their child and received a "no" in return? How do you explain this verse to one who has experienced the Lord's presence so intimately amid circumstances that have not been good but have stolen dreams of the future? This requires more than an appliqued t-shirt or journal cover. 

Yet, when taking the context of the entire chapter and book of Jeremiah into consideration, these verses are actually much MORE hopeful and re-assuring than I ever imagined. Thus, I've been humbled (scripture has a way of doing this), and I now find great solidarity in these verses amongst the pages of the weeping prophet. 

Chapter 29 starts as a letter to the survivors among exiles still living in captivity. The setting is crucial here. I'd encourage you to read the chapter in its entirety now.  

We often put a quota of time or severity on suffering, unconsciously making some kind of bargain with the Lord. Then, when, in God's sovereignty, that limit has been exceeded we are left standing among the ruins wondering "where are you, God?" as though he has failed to keep his end of a bargain. 

While in captivity these exiles were told to allow themselves and their lives to move forward. This doesn't mean forgetting what was behind, pasting on a fake smile and pretending what happened wasn't terrible. The exiles had endured much tragedy and hardship getting to where they now found themselves. I imagine they experienced loss of family, dreams, homes, familiarity, and life as they knew it. So, this command to LIVE? It wasn't an easy one. I know a little something about this, as do many other grieving parents. Living beyond the death of your child requires an intentionality I wish I knew nothing about.

In verse seven we read, "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it..." These exiles were instructed to pray for peace and prosperity of and within the "enemy territory." They were commanded to be a blessing amid a place they never wanted to be but to where they had been brought by the sovereignty of God. I am reminded the Lord can use the terrible and painful places we find ourselves to bless us and care for us. I may want more than anything to flee this dark foreign territory, but here is where I am. I am challenged to accept it, pray in it and for it, and to LIVE. The Lord wastes nothing. 

While in the enemy's territory God's people were instructed to seek truth among the many lies. The lies are often loud, distracting, tempting, alluring, and even coming from whom we expect truth. The lies they found themselves surrounded by were those of denial over the severity of their circumstances. Leaders prophesied in the name of the Lord that surely God wouldn't ask them to endure something so harsh, nor for so long; they falsely told the people the "season" would (or should) be over quickly. Many will want to rush the season of suffering and deny God would require such of one of his own. Many who confess the faith will do this and rush the grief attached to the suffering. This isn't okay, and it's okay that I'm not okay with it. (How's that for confusing?!)

"When the seventy years are completed..." (10)

I am reminded that when the time is right the Lord's promised restoration will be complete. He promised his people that even through the seventy long years in a dark place He had not forgotten them. He has not forgotten his gracious promise. His plans for his people are still very real. 

While living in this dark land of loss the thought of the years spanning before me can be overwhelmingly and discouragingly long. Even so, there is an end, and when I slip into eternity with my Savior this long wait will somehow seem but a moment. The Lord has promised not to leave us here, and it will be so. He will bring me home. 

As we read through Jeremiah, we get a sense of the abandonment God's people often felt or experienced. I think, no, I KNOW it's recorded for a purpose. Here, in the dark, painful, foreign place God can seem absent, quiet, distanced, removed. We may even question his goodness, ask the "why?" that's never answered, feel hopeless, abandoned, or even targeted by God. We may find ourselves questioning or wrestling with God's sovereignty. Our prayers may seem to hit walls or evaporate as we ask, "where are you, God?". This is nothing new. Scripture records all of this and more experienced and expressed by many of his faithful servants. 

Here is where the precious value of verses 11-13 shine.

"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 upon 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."

ONE DAY... I long for this "ONE DAY". One day, the Lord will bring me home to him as this pain- filled land is indeed foreign and temporary. It is NOT my home nor my final destination. It does not define who or whose I am, nor who God is. One day, when he does gather me home, it will be a home of no harm or pain. There will be no poverty of body, spirit, or faith, instead prosperity of body, spirit, and faith. Things like hope, faith, and love will no longer be tainted by sin, doubted in suffering, or followed by a question mark. He has given me this hope in part, but then it will be full. And when we speak to God, or call his name, in this new home we will never question his care nor whether or not he hears or sees us. He is the very thing which makes home, HOME. He comprises this beautiful, beloved, longed for home. His presence permeates. This isn't to say his presence or care ever falters here on earth, but our perception of it often does. My heart will long for him, and that longing will never go unmet. The eyes of my heart will always be looking for and to him, and he will always be seen in every beautiful moment. The dark and painful clouds of the foreign territory will no longer obscure my view or block the sun. He won't leave me here in this current place. He will gather me along with all his people intentionally and desirously. Full redemption and restoration are coming: ONE DAY. 

Chapter 29 wraps up by assuring God's people his justice will prevail. All wrongs will be made right and accounted for. There is a common enemy that will one day have no hold on any part of our lives. 

Do not misunderstand me, please. All circumstances are NOT good; some are horrific. But, these three popular verses from Jeremiah mean so much more to me in light of the entirety of Jeremiah (some pretty terrible circumstances) and eternity. They challenge me to continually seek the Lord in ALL circumstances, knowing that even there His plans for me, for my children, for all who call upon him include a final home permeated by the hope and prosperity of his presence untainted by the poverty and pain of this world.