For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
It's easy to understand why God spoke the words of Jeremiah 29:11 through the prophet to His people. Jeremiah wrote during the time when Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians. The Jews could see nothing but disaster on the horizon; they wondered if all God's covenant promises had become null and void. So God spoke through Jeremiah to tell the people that His thoughts were not evil toward them, that He had a hopeful future in mind. We may not look out our window and see invading Babylonians on the horizon, but we may see something that seems just as hopeless. We can cling to God's promise to Israel because it is a reflection of His character. God is the God of hope and the future. He "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20). We are called in those moments to "trust in the Lord with all [our] heart," to "lean not on [our] own understanding," and to "acknowledge Him" in all our ways (Proverbs 3:5-6). If you feel besieged by life today, lean on the God of peace -- the God of hope and the future. The same God who has a plan for Israel has a plan for you. - Dr. David Jeremiah
To trust in God requires you to give up your normal methods of trusting you. As a Police Officer, it was quite difficult to learn to trust God. But I had the DESIRE to seek the truth about what I heard about God. I learn that you make mistakes. He doesn't!
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