Hope in Despair

Jeremiah 29:11 -

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.

This verse has been the subject for encouragement on numerous occasions and rightfully so.

When these words were penned from the prophet Jeremiah, the Israelite people had just lost everything and were exiled to a foreign country, with foreign customs and practices along with foreign gods. They lamented and the sudden changes in the their life styles and many of them had problems seeing past the fact that they had lost everything and therefore believed that they had lost their dignity and self-worth as well.

However, Jeremiah sort to reassure the people and guild their thoughts and emotions to realize that this time will not pass immediately and that they needed to stay focused on developing themselves and adapting to their new life in a new land. Therefore they were encouraged to support each other, be a unified under their faith in God and live in hope believing that God would deliver them once again (this time from exile) to the blessed promise.

Hope is always couple with difficulties eg. hoping to be successful in an exam; while putting in all those hours of hard work, you have a goal that you hope to achieve. However, hope brings a positive change in attitude and also a desire to aspire to be the real you (like the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly).

It may seem to be a time of great trials and struggles in your life but be mindful that firstly, you are not the only person to face similar problems (no matter how unique may believe your circumstances are), in other words you are not alone; secondly, you can find others to positively help you through your time of trial (many times it comes from the most unexpected place); and thirdly, you will be placed into a better tomorrow than you may have ever imagined for yourself (the latter is greater than the past).

Keep hope alive and God will help you to achieve your promise.

Min. Josanne Walters - Trotman