Have you ever been really excited about plans made with someone and out of nowhere those plans got cancelled? Something like this can be really disappointing. Well, there are some among us right now who are feeling disappointed because they feel as if their purpose, destiny, and promises from the Lord has been cancelled! I did a teaching on our local radio broadcast this past Sunday morning where I taught on the true context of Jeremiah 29:11. This scripture verse is popular and most do not ever take the time to receive the essence of the meaning of the verse because of the failure to dig deeper into the context of the scripture verse:
11 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.
First of all, this word was given to a people who were in captivity in the form of a letter from the prophet (29:1). What is captivity? Captivity is confinement, imprisonment, enslavement, bondage, restraint, etc. God’s intentions was to encourage the people while in this condition. Even though the people disobeyed and rebelled against the Lord and He caused them to be carried away captive, He wanted them to know that His attitude about their future was still the same. He wanted them to know that He would visit them in the future and cause HIS promises to come to past for them.
10 For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Even though God, in His righteous judgment allowed the captivity, He assured His people that His thoughts toward them were only peaceful and beautiful and that they still had hope for the future. He instructed the people to “get comfortable” in that place so to speak because they would not be able to escape the situation until their season of judgment was over.
My encouragement to us today is that we must trust God in every season, even the reaping seasons where we are going through chaos and fire because of our own choices. Not all sufferings are the result of sin; however, some are. Nevertheless, God has not cancelled our destiny. We still have hope as long as there is breath in our lungs.
Blessings,
Minister Denise
Thank you for the Word. I really like the definition you gave for “Captivity”. I’m working on a project for later this year and the word “Captivity” came up. Now I better understanding. It is amazing how God works though His people.
Praise the Lord! So glad you found the article helpful. God will always confirm Hus voice to us!