For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Do you have dreams for your life? Things you’ve always wanted to accomplish or certain ideas of what your future should look like?
Have you ever made big sacrifices in pursuit of your dreams? Moving to a different city, leaving family behind? Or choosing ministry over a well-paying career?
Jesus’ disciples knew what that felt like! All of them had left behind their jobs (like fishing or tax collecting) to become followers of Jesus. In Jesus, they had found a teacher and their Messiah. The promised deliverer of the Jewish nation was prophesied in the Torah.
Imagine how confused they must have been when they witnessed their great leader die. Now what were they going to do? They had left everything behind to follow Jesus because they believed He was the One, but now they were not so sure anymore.
The two disciples on the Road to Emmaus said:
We had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel. – Luke 24:21 NIV
Little did they know that is exactly what Jesus did on the cross, but at this point, mere days after His crucifixion, they’re not able to see that yet. Their hopes and dreams were shattered.
I can empathise with them. Cameron and I never had any dream of leaving India, but when God called us to the US, and we moved there, it became our dream. Then, three years later, it suddenly ended, and we couldn’t understand why, especially since it was God who had led us there in the first place. Now, years later, we see the blessings God had in store for us outside the US.
Do you recognise yourself in this scenario? Are you, too, struggling with shattered dreams or the loss of the future you had imagined? Remember this verse:
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.” – Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
