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) 

Life often does not go the way we anticipate. As children, we likely don’t envision a future where we struggle to make ends meet, feel alone, battle addiction, fight for our marriage, or suffer through chronic illness. We live in a culture of optimism where we are taught from early on that we can be anything and do anything we set our minds on, often not factoring in the failures, disappointments, and tragedies we’ll experience along the way. But really, how could we?

So, what does it mean then that God has a plan to “prosper” us, to give us a “future and a hope”? Because much of the time it feels like life simply adversity that eventuates in death.

The other night I read the story of David’s showdown with Goliath with my kids (1 Samuel 17). As you know, David prevailed. I asked my kids what ‘giants’ they are facing. My six-year-old daughter, who is rounding the bend on her cancer treatment with the finish line in sight, named her cancer. “It’s trying to defeat me, but I’ll defeat it!” she replied, then falling silent. I could see her mind churning, sensing a poignant question arising. “But not Ragan. Ragan didn’t defeat her cancer.” [silence again] “Why?” (Ragan was a little girl undergoing treatment alongside Addie. The cancer was in her leg, which they amputated, but it came back fierce. Her family lost her last fall.)

Addie was asking why giants aren’t always defeated. Why do they sometimes prevail, even amid radical demonstrations of faith and utter reliance upon God? The answer is that the outcome is not dependent upon how much we pray or how hard we fight. Sometimes it’s not the giants who fall. Sometimes the world and death overtake us despite our most valiant efforts. If this life is all there is, that would surely be something to despair.

Our hope cannot be grounded in anything in this life. Not in relationships nor financial freedom nor social status nor political parties nor legislative power nor social justice nor in whatever achieving the ‘American Dream’ looks like for you.

All of this too shall pass, like chaff blown away by the harsh winds of time as our bodies rot in the grave. If this is our hope then surely life is vanity, empty, and meaningless (Ecclesiastes 2:11; 1 Cor. 15:17). 

Our hope is in Christ alone, who overcame disappointment and failure, abandonment and rejection, hatred and abuse— even death. When you are feeling weary and discouraged in your soul, look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who endured hostility ensuing from the chaos and corruption enveloping this present world. Our hope is in his living presence beyond the veil of death, where he patiently waits with the Father to renew and restore all of creation to its rightful state, the time when all things will be made new, where there will be no more tears nor sorrow, corruption nor disease, chaos nor injustice nor any other evil thing (Hebrews 12:1-3; Revelation 21:1-5; 22:1-5). 

This hope is not a trite cliché or wishful thinking but a “sure and steadfast anchor for our soul” (Hebrews 6:19). It grounds our expectation for all that is to come and secures our confidence that nothing, not even death, can separate us from all that God has prepared for us (Romans 8:37-39). So that, with the apostle Paul, we can hold to the promise that our present sufferings do not compare with the fulness of God’s glory and love, peace, joy, and blessing yet to be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). Whatever your present situation holdfast to this promise, live with this reality in mind knowing that every passing moment brings you nearer to the threshold of God’s kingdom come “on earth as it is in heaven”.