I’ll just be honest with you guys and share that I struggle sometimes with believing that God has a great plan for me. It’s easy for me to lose perspective and begin to doubt whether or not he really wants to use me powerfully in the future. I would imagine that many of you know what I’m talking about. As you go through a tough time it can be very difficult to remember that God has our best interest at heart. Maybe you sometimes feel like Bruce in the movie Bruce Almighty with Jim Carey. At one point he kind of snaps and depicts God as being a mean kid on an anthill with a magnifying glass delighting in watching him squirm. Have you ever felt like that? I know I have.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “¹¹ 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.”

I love this passage of scripture. It reminds me that even though I can’t always understand what God is up to, that he does have my absolute best interest at heart. It reminds me that my greatest days are ahead of me and that God has good in mind when he thinks of my future. Truths such as these are important to remember when you’re going through a difficult time. Despair can begin to set in and we can gradually begin to believe that our lives are not going to be all that great. When we were younger it was easier to dream wasn’t it? It was easier to believe that the future was full of all kinds of amazing possibilities and potential. We may not even realize it when it’s happening but that kind of excitement about the future can very easily slip through our fingertips. I believe that the truth of Jeremiah 29:11 can restore some of that excitement. Read the passage a bunch of times and memorize it. Do you REALLY believe that it applies to you? My challenge would be that you would make that one of your life verses and really claim the hope that is wrapped up in it.