It’s easy to be buried under the weight of our own failures, weaknesses, and sinful choices. We want to be better. We want to resist temptation. Many times we do but then there those episodes where sin gets the best of us and we fail. In times like these we must remember God’s thoughts toward us. He loves you.
Pastor Chuck Smith shares some powerful insights:
Jeremiah 29:10–14 (NLT) “This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
Sometimes, when we have failed in our Christian walk by disobeying God or yielding to fleshly impulses, we become disgusted with ourselves. We often then take those same feelings and project them onto God. “He must be angry and disgusted, too. In fact,” we reason, “He probably doesn’t even love me anymore.”
You may be going through some unpleasant experiences, but that doesn’t mean that God’s thoughts towards you are evil.
The people Jeremiah was writing to had real cause to believe that perhaps God was angry with them. They were living in captivity in Babylon as a result of their own sin. They had turned away from God and trusted in lies. Because they had chosen a path that would have ultimately led to their destruction, they were now going through a necessary time of chastisement. So you can imagine what they believed God was thinking about them.
But the prophet Jeremiah was assuring them that the thoughts of God toward His children are always thoughts of peace and not of evil.
This is true of you too. God loves you. God’s thoughts towards you are of peace, and He’s using those circumstances to work out His eternal plan in you.
Have you failed Him today? He hasn’t failed you. His love is as sure as it was yesterday, as sure as it will be tomorrow. That’s a love you can count on.
Thank You, Father, that Your thoughts concerning us are those of peace and love. Help us to keep our eyes on eternity and not our circumstances. In Jesus’ name, amen.
