I was raised in the church all of my life, and although I attended a Christian University, and took two semesters of bible classes, I have never read the bible in its entirety. I began reading through the bible chronologically a few years ago. I am not on any official plan, and I do not read it every day, but I am trying to read through all of it at my own pace. I have found that reading it chronologically has made it easier for me to understand the stories within the context of history, and it has helped all of the stories that I have learned about over the years make more sense.
Recently, I found myself in Jeremiah 29. One of the bible verses that I have heard much of my life is from Jeremiah 29:11. It reads “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
As I stated before, this verse is not new to me, but this morning I read it within the context of the entire paragraph and this taught me something I have never known before. God’s people were living in exile when He made this promise to them. They were living in Babylon, which is known to have been a place where pagan gods were worshiped, and sexual immorality was the norm. It was the center of idolatry, and God’s own people were exiled there as a result of their choices to turn against God’s laws. Scripture tells us in Jeremiah 29:10 that God planned for the Israelites to stay in Babylon for 70 years. Basically, an entire generation would live their lives in a foreign land, living with different values than those around them. God’s plan all along was to give them a future and a hope and to prosper them, but it surely must have been hard to believe as they were living out their time as exiles in a foreign land. As the world navigates through a pandemic, I think we all have woken up to living life in a world that looks very different than it did a few months ago. All of the new social practices and health fears can have us all feeling like we are exiles living in a foreign land. The daily news briefings and changing information can leave us frightened and feeling insecure about our present and our future.
I always envisioned Jeremiah 29:11 as a “rainbows and unicorns”, sugary sweet, upbeat kind of bible verse. It’s the kind of verse you find on hand-lettered wall art, or throw pillows. Turns out, that is not how it was delivered to God’s people “back in the day”. Instead, it was delivered during a time of transition and difficulty, as a reminder that, although things looked desperate at the time, better times were ahead, eventually. In our current situation of life in a global pandemic, where EVERYTHING we know has been turned upside down, and things look desperate and difficult, as a Christian I trust that God’s promises never change. Yes, we must endure our present circumstances, but not without the knowledge that God plans to prosper us and give us a future and a hope, eventually. I suppose the only thing better than living with such hope would be to pass it on to others around us who cannot see the promise of hope in their present circumstances.
To put this into context with our current events, we know there are carriers of COVID-19 who are asymptomatic; they have been exposed but it’s undetectable to others that they carry the virus. It makes me wonder, as followers of Jesus we know we are exposed to His message of hope and light, but is it detectable to others? Are we carriers of hope walking around without the symptoms? Have we allowed the fear of the changing world around us to diminish the hope we receive from an unchanging God?
I have personally struggled with fear and negativity at times during this pandemic, especially in the early days. I was fearful for my own family and sad for so many who were experiencing loss of life and livelihood. I knew I had to find a way to change my focus away from fear, because once you have taken all the proper precautions to protect yourself from whatever it is you deem fearful, fear itself does nothing to help anyone. I noticed that when I became intentional to begin my day with prayer and spend a few minutes reading scripture, it helped me keep my eye on God’s promises. It’s a light in the darkness; some might say scripture serves as an antidote to hopelessness.
There are many around us who are struggling to come up for air in a vortex of fear and anxiety. I believe we have a calling to share our hope with others around us. You can safely bet there are people in your circle who are struggling right now. Some are Christian believers, and some are not; some read God’s words and some never will, but in either case, they are feeling overwhelmed by their circumstances and may need an extra prayer, or a kind text or handwritten note reassuring them that they are not alone. We all know how a simple act of kindness to a friend or a stranger can brighten up someone’s day. It too can serve as an antidote to hopelessness. For many, the world feels like an extra dark place right now, and the only solution for darkness is a little more Light. As the days unfold and we face new uncertainties and new life patterns, I hope we will all cast our light wherever we are able. I want to be a carrier of hope and I want to have ALL the symptoms.