For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord

Jeremiah 29:10–14

Jehovah is speaking to us in this passage through a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah. This letter was sent to God’s people who were going through hardships. They had reached a place where they were questioning themselves: How did we end up here? What went wrong?

These were a people who had lost hope. When they looked at their current condition and the land they were in, they saw no reason to believe things would get better. They remembered the land God had given them, but now they were captives in a foreign place. They could not live as they wanted, eat as they wanted, or dwell in peace with their neighbors.

But Jehovah, in His mercy, remembered His people. He sent them a word through His servant Jeremiah: “Even if you feel forgotten, hopeless, or at the end of your strength, I am still thinking good thoughts about you.” God instructed Jeremiah to put these words in a letter and deliver it to His people.

Perhaps the letter reached them while they were busy with daily life or gathered in worship, much like we are today. They may have been saying to themselves: Even though we are in a foreign land, we will still worship our God. And in that moment, God reminded them:

“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)

This is powerful. Normally, thoughts remain silent in the mind. But our God does not keep silent—He reveals His thoughts toward His people. He told them: I know your current state, but your latter days will be better.

Yet, sometimes words of hope don’t seem to make sense when we’re in pain.

• If you had told Mephibosheth, who was crippled after a fall while fleeing during war, that his future would be bright, he would not have believed it in his condition.

• If you had told the woman with the issue of blood, who had suffered for twelve years, that her situation would one day change, those words would have sounded empty.

• If you had told the man at the pool of Bethesda, sick for thirty-eight years, in his thirty-seventh year that God would turn things around, he might have ignored you.

Maybe today you feel the same. You may be asking yourself: How do these words apply to me? My situation looks hopeless. But the Lord is reminding us: “I know the thoughts I think toward you… thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

It does not matter what others think about you. What matters is what the Lord thinks about you.

God even gave His people instructions for their time in captivity: Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat the fruit. Get married, raise families, seek peace, and multiply. In other words, do not stop living, for I still have plans for you.

He also warned them: Do not listen to false prophets or false dreams. Do not let anyone deceive you.

And then He gave them this promise: When seventy years are complete, I will come to you and fulfill My good word.

Maybe you are in your “sixty-ninth year” today—right on the edge of deliverance. Maybe your situation looks hard, but the Lord is saying: “Hold on, for I will remember you. Your time is coming, I know the thoughts I think toward you… thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”.”