COUNSEL THAT LEADS TO AN EXPECTED END

This is among the most quoted verses in Scripture, and it becomes even more powerful when we remember where it was spoken. Jeremiah wrote to Israelites who were living as exiles in Babylon, far from home, in a season that looked nothing like an expected end. Into that displacement, God declared that His thoughts toward them were thoughts of peace and not of evil.

Look at the counsel that surrounds the promise. God told the exiles to build houses, plant gardens, marry, raise families and seek the peace of the city where they lived (Jeremiah 29:5-7). In other words, He asked them to live fully in a season they did not choose. He also told them the exile would last seventy years (verse 10). The expected end was real, but it would come in God’s time, not theirs.

Then comes a promise that is often overlooked: they would call upon Him, pray to Him, and He would hear; they would seek Him and find Him when they searched with all their heart (verses 12-13). God’s counsel to His people in a hard place was not to panic, but to settle, pray and seek Him. The expected end comes to those who remain faithful in the waiting room.

If you are in a difficult chapter today, do not read it as proof that God has abandoned you. Bloom where you are planted, keep praying and keep seeking Him wholeheartedly. His thoughts toward you have not changed. The Author of your story knows the last chapter, and it is good.