Letters From God – 9/29/22

This series of Letters From God is an attempt to put the thoughts of God as revealed in the Scriptures as they relate to individuals and the nation of the USA.

QUESTION:
Can You Give Us Any Hope For The Future?

I sure can. I have been offering hope since the beginning of time. I once wrote to my Chosen People who were in deep darkness and told them that if they trusted me, their future would be bright. In my book, the Bible, I asked Jeremiah to record my words. I said, “This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 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. 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 seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:10–14)
The occasion for my words to them was not very hopeful. Because they turned from me and violated my laws, I removed my protection from them, and they were carried into captivity by the Babylonians. Before they were carried away, I told them that they would suffer the consequences of their disobedience but after 70 years I would restore them to their land.
I went on to say that I had plans for them, and it wasn’t to harm them but to give them a hope and a future. Hope is the expectation of a future event or blessing. Anything you hope for is not yet realized and awaits a future fulfilment. Most things you hope for are dependent on others to bring them to pass. For those who trust in me I, the almighty God, will always fulfill my promises. There is one condition however, to receive the hope that I promise. It is that you turn from your sin and disobedience and trust me. If you choose to continue to reject me, that hope will be left unfulfilled. But it will not be because of my inability to provide but your unwillingness to turn back to me and trust me.
You have probably asked this question because you are feeling the angst of a nation and a world that seems to be spinning out of control. You are wondering whether or not the future will be bright or dark. As you wonder, you must recognize that behind the scenes of the geo-political activity of your nation and others is me, your creator. You must recognize that it is only as you continue to make me God and Lord, that your nation will be blessed (Psalm 144:15). You must understand that if there is ever to be hope, it must come from me and you must rely upon me.
Sadly, as you have turned from me and transgressed my laws, you have turned to trust in others. The problem with this is that there is no other God and ultimately those you are trusting will let you down. They cannot give you the hope that only I can give.
This is true for many reasons. Whoever you trust in may be sincere and desire to bring hope but if you continue to reject me, they and you will be fighting me, and you cannot win (Proverbs 21:30). Your only hope, even if you have good leaders, is if you have my blessing. Whoever you trust, if it is human, is sinful and broken. If they are not trusting me, they will lead you in ways that continued to be against my will and my ways. This will incur further judgment and make your hope even a more distant possibility. Whoever you trust, apart from me, is a so-called god and you are hoping in an idol that is not God. This will only speed up your destiny of death instead of deliverance into the hope of the future that I have planned for you. It is for this reason that I counseled my people once again through Jeremiah and reminded them of the futility and hopelessness that comes from looking to others instead of me for hope. I said, “This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5).
I can still give you a future and a hope for life if, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” “I will be found by you,” and I will give you the hope you long for.

I love you,
God

These letters are written by a New Hampshire pastor.