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“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:11–13, NASB95

God spoke these words to His people through Jeremiah during a time of great uncertainty. They had just been brought into Babylonian captivity, witnessed Jerusalem burn, and watched fellow Judeans die in battle trying to defend their homeland. These words of assurance are for us who believe in Him also. We will face struggle and hardships, but we are to remember our Lord and His providence knowing that we are not forgotten and the hope that rises anew. As we look to Christ, we can see the suffering in our world and know that this too will end. God will not leave us captive to sin and frees us from the bondage of the deceiver. We are meant to be a people of peace and we can see the fulfillment of this promise given to those in Babylonian captivity and know that He sets us free also from the captivity we find ourselves within in this fallen world as He will restore all things as He leads His people into His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.