Jeremiah 29:11 has always been one of the most encouraging
verses for me in the Bible. It wasn’t
until this morning that I considered the verse leading up to this treasure, and it opened up more understanding than just
that four letter word – h o p e. Notice the LORD gave them a timeframe for
their captivity. They would be enslaved
for 70 years before they return to their promised land. This required acceptance, endurance, patience
and all of the other graces of God that could not be accomplished in their own
strength. His message was clear, ‘This is going to be a long journey but a
journey that has an end, filled with prosperity and everything good. Hold on and have hope in Me rather than hope
in the resolution. You will move from hope
to hope until my promise is realized.
Settle in and build a life within your circumstances.’
I don’t know many people who aren’t holding on to hope in
some area of their lives. We are all
looking to the future for resolution, but is our hope in God or is our hope in
the outcome? That is the question on the
table this morning. We must anchor our
hope in something bigger than our circumstances. ‘God
calls us not to escape from our circumstances but to embrace His presence and
His will in the midst of them. The
question of hope, then, is not how we can get out of this situation. The question is how we can embrace God’s
purposes and God’s work in the midst of this situation.’ Faith Limps, p.
103.
The providence of God was so precious for me when our
daughter was living on the streets using drugs.
He didn’t show me how long we would have to endure our Babylon. For the first six years, I placed my hope in
the resolution of my daughter getting clean - my hope was in an outcome instead
my Savior. It wasn’t until the last two
years that I placed my hope in God and began to understand the true meaning of
moving from hope to hope, and strength to strength. He gave me the same sweet message, ‘Brenda, hang on, don’t give up and settle in
to this life. It may be a while but it
will accomplish my plans for all of you.
Hope in Me, not in the outcome.’
It was two more years before that beautiful day when God stood up,
called down to His child and said, ‘Kristen,
today is the day you are redeemed. Come
to your Father and receive the plans I have for you.’
Whatever Babylon you are experiencing…whatever circumstances
seem to enslave you…His message is for everyone, ‘Hold on, settle in and hope in Me alone. Build your life around it instead of running
away from it. I am going to do things in
your life that you cannot imagine.’
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