Today’s author is Prince of Peace’s Minister of Intergenerational Connection and Care, Julene Hannesh.
Text: Jeremiah 29:1,4-14
Jeremiah writes to a people living far from home, exiled in a place they did not choose. Their world had crumbled, institutions had failed, leaders had faltered, and the people were left wondering where God was in the rubble. Into this grief and confusion, God tells them to live into their present reality: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (v.5-7). And then God promises: “Surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (v.11).
This message is not a quick fix. It’s not a platitude. It is a call to faithful presence in the middle of brokenness. God meets us right where we are, among the displaced, the burdened, the anxious, and the weary. God does not wait for perfect circumstances or opportunity to bring hope. Instead, God plants hope inside our imperfect present, inviting us to participate in healing, justice, and community even when the landscape feels barren.
In our own fractured world—marked by violence, division, oppression, greed, white supremacy, and ecological harm—Jeremiah’s words remind us that God is neither absent nor passive. God is active in the very places we fear are beyond repair. The call to “seek the welfare of the city” becomes a call to engage in the world’s healing: to advocate for justice, to nurture relationships, to rebuild what has been torn down, and to trust that God is working through us for the sake of our neighbors.
And yet, woven through this calling is God’s promise. Not a promise that everything will instantly be easy—but that God’s future is rooted in hope, not harm. That God listens when we pray. That God can be found when we seek. That exile, in whatever form it takes, is never the end of the story.
As we enter into Advent and our new theme: “You’re invited to Hope”, this passage speaks to our brokenness with a gentle, yet firm assurance. God’s hope is already at work. Even here. Even now. We are invited to live as people who trust that God’s future is unfolding, who plant gardens of grace and justice in the soil we’ve been given, and who dare to believe that God’s hope for us exceeds even our own. As the world feels heavy and dark, may we accept this invitation to hope, allowing God’s light to take root in us so that we become bearers of compassion, courage, and joy in a world desperate for renewal.
Prayer:
God of hope, meet us in the broken places of our world and our lives. Teach us to seek the welfare of our communities, and remind us that your plans for us are rooted in love, justice, and a future with hope. Amen.. My prayer for all of you during this Advent season is that you will know and feel the hope which we cannot yet see.