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PROMISE 7: I will give you a future and a hope.  

Perhaps more than ever, our world often feels like a dangerous, precarious place. Economic ups and downs, terrorism, mass shootings—and these are just a few big things—not to mention the personal issues like health and relationships. No wonder the next promise is so popular and well known: I will give you a future and a hope. This promise comes from the famous passage in Jeremiah 29:11. This is what we all want out of life! For things to get better, for the future to be a place worth working toward. 

I love this verse, but when taken in isolation, it can mess with your expectations. It seems to draw a straight line from where you are to where God wants you to be—or where you think God should want you to be. You think, If God makes the plans, there will be no disasters. Things will get better and better. Terrible things won’t happen. But when things don’t go as you hoped, you start to lose confidence. Maybe God’s not even in control. Maybe he doesn’t care about your well-being. But those feelings are just that—feelings—and not the truth. 

No matter all the evidence to the contrary, you can stand on this incredible promise. Keeping in step with God means letting his promises set the tempo for your life. God not only promises his presence but also his purpose. He doesn’t give you purpose instead of problems but alongside whatever problems pop up. God has a perfect future in store for you, but that perfect future begins in the imperfect now.

Are you willing to take your dreams and goals and lay them down before God? Are you willing to let them go if God desires something else for you? If you’re not willing to surrender a dream, then that dream holds a higher position in your life than God. It’s good to follow your dreams, but it’s essential to follow Jesus. Only he has plans to give you a future and a hope. 

Live free in the promise: I will give you a future and a hope.