Devotional
God's Thoughts about Your Troubles
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11
The letter from Jeremiah to the captives in Babylon was devastating.
False prophets had been assuring the Jews that their captivity would soon end. But God’s prophet tells them to make a home in Babylon because they were going to be in that most undesirable situation for a long time. Jeremiah’s letter shattered their hopes about any soon-coming deliverance. How very black and bleak the future looked.
God knows the great mistake His people make at times like this is to conclude that He has “in anger shut up his tender mercies” (Psalm 77:9), that there is no hope for brighter days. Such thinking would be understandable among the Jews since they were in this predicament because of their failure to obey God. Disobedience to the Lord’s word always carries with it a hefty price tag. But the Lord gives His people a “good word” of comfort and hope (Jeremiah 29:10), and it is a good word for you, child of God if you find yourself in similar straits.
Our dread and anxiety over the outcome of our worst affliction is easily removed by simply believing and resting in this word from God. God’s thoughts toward His people speak of His gracious purpose regarding their happiness. The eternal, unchangeable purpose of God toward all of His children is to do them good. It is never to do them evil; never to harm them, to abandon them, or to give up on them in disgust because of their many faults and failures. When you think that God has forgotten all about you and has left you to your sin and just deserts, the fact is that God has never once stopped thinking about His plan to bless you. Therefore, your future, however dark it may seem just now, is as bright and secure as heaven itself.
Quote: “It will greatly comfort you if you can see God’s hand in both your losses and your crosses.” – C. H. Spurgeon.
Daily devotions are from the book “A Word in Season,” published by Let the Bible Speak. © Let the Bible Speak 2010 – All Rights Reserved.
