“I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (CEB).
God has plans of peace for all of us, and He will give us a future filled with hope. That’s why He sent His only Son: so that everyone who believes in Him will not be lost for ever, but will have eternal life. (John 3:16.) It is by faith in Him that we can get peace and rest, and it is by faith that we have a future filled with hope.
A promise for the future
The whole world is under the influence of the devil, and unbelief has gripped the nations. Most people only believe in what has been made and done by human will. That is why they don’t have a future. Their lives are only guided by their earthly desires. As long as things go their way, life goes well; but when things go against them, when they come in difficult situations—something that happens the whole time—their lives turn sour for themselves and those around them.
Everything is about their own earthly needs. Most people don’t know anything about the spiritual things that promise a hopeful future.
Abraham, on the other hand, believed God, and therefore God accepted him as righteous. (Romans 4:3.) God was so enthusiastic about the fact that there was one person who believed in Him that He gave Abraham a promise right then and there about his descendants and a country. This promise was Abraham’s future.
Lot, on the other hand, did not have this same heavenly vision and wanted to have the green meadows and the glory of this world. His choice was a dangerous mistake, and by making this choice he lost not only fellowship with Abraham, but he also lost his future. Just think of the possibilities he had. He could have simply made an end to the conflict between his shepherds and Abraham’s, and then continued to have fellowship with his uncle and a share in his blessing. (You can read the story of Lot in Genesis 13:6-12 and Genesis 19.)
Make the right choices
May we who live in these days, with all kinds of choices to make, make the right choice so that we, with the same faith as Abraham, can take part in God’s promises which give us a future filled with hope.
“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.” Romans 5:1-2 (NET).
We can see that we only can get this grace that filled Jesus through this precious faith that Abraham had. Do not believe in your own will or your own strength. Do not believe in your feelings or your human reasoning, but believe in the living God and His plans and His future for you.
“No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 (GNB). We must be really aware of this. We have to do with a God who lives! Our prayers must also be proof of this. By faith in Him we can go to the throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:16.)
Where we have a future filled with hope
To get grace means to get what we need most in life: help and strength in the Holy Spirit so that we can overcome all the sinful desires in our human nature, and make the right choices in life’s many circumstances. This is where our future is. The Spirit will teach us and remind us of all things, and if we are obedient to His voice we will get His peace—not the peace of the world, but the peace that Jesus gives. This peace is not kept by bullets and guns, but by the power that goes out from someone who does not live according to the desires in his own sinful nature, but who walks in the Spirit and does the will of God.
We should very often go to the throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:16.) This life is our future that is full of hope. In this life we can also be happy in the hope of getting the glory of God, godly nature, which will be with us into our future and which we will keep for all eternity. In this power we can also be happy in the middle of our sufferings, for we know that suffering will help us to endure, and endurance will build character, and this will give us a hope that will never disappoint. (Romans 5:4-5.) When we are together with such people, we sense that they have peace, and a future full of hope. This is what God has planned for us.