Coffee Cup Confessions: Finding Hope Not Hype in Famous Bible VersesНамуна

Weeping Words

Those of us Christians love to recite this verse today. It's a behemoth. It's from Jeremiah 29:11, the most read and shared Old Testament Bible Verse, according to the YouVersion Bible app.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

This fantastic verse was written in the middle of a terrible chapter. The Israelites, this same group of people God had previously rescued and brought to the Promised Land, had fully turned their backs on God. God had warned them of the consequences had they done this, and now it was coming to fruition.

They had just been taken captive by their rivals, the Babylonians. They were in the middle of not a couple of months of uncertainty but 70 years of captivity in exile. The chapter title is "A letter to the exiles." All hope on the outside was lost, but God reminded them, I have good plans for you. You maybe can't see it right now because all you are looking at is the Babylonians and your current circumstances, but through me, it's going to end well!

This verse was penned by the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived in this period when the Israelites were highly unfaithful and were given over to their enemies.

God specifically called Jeremiah to speak a hard truth to the people. And Jeremiah is one of, if not the loneliest, prophets. His nickname is the weeping prophet. God commanded him not to marry, to live a life alone, and to consume His words and share those words with others, even though it was primarily a stern, counter-cultural, divisive message he was called to give. To get the further context of the man writing these words, Jeremiah says this about himself in chapter 20: "I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out, proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long."

What a challenging assignment Jeremiah had. As a pastor, I love that I get to preach on this side of the cross. As hard and convicting as I need to be at times to bring truth, I can still bring the grace of Jesus that comes through the cross and resurrection. But not Jeremiah. It was doom and gloom from day one. That's his whole life.

So not only were God's people, the Israelites, in exile, but specifically Jeremiah himself, through no problems of his own, was in an ever-higher level of loneliness.

And he penned these weeping words. My God will see me through. He's got good plans. He's got hope and a future for me. What does that look like? No idea. Are they the same plans that you would pick out for yourself? Nope.

But we know that God will turn our sadness and mourning into dancing. The Bible says, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

God would come back again and rescue His people. He would remain faithful to His promise. He always has. And Jeremiah would remain faithful to God all the days of His life, so we know His future ends well!