In chapter 29, we read that Jeremiah wrote a letter to the captives who had been carried away because of the discipline of God on His people. Jeremiah gives them several instructions from the Lord to settle in Babylon, seek the peace of the city, and pray for it—“for in its peace you will have peace” (Jer. 29:7)—as well as stern words concerning the false prophets among them.

This letter from the Lord to His people, by the hand of Jeremiah, also contained beautiful words of encouragement: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (v. 11).

In the vision of the two baskets of figs in Jeremiah 24, the Lord had said to Jeremiah, concerning the figs that had been carried away, “I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” (24:6–7). Yes, the deportees were not forgotten, despite appearances. They were at the very heart of God’s plans.

There is an encouragement for us in this. Let us have the wisdom to have no need of a bridle to be led, as the horse needs it in its liveliness, and the mule in its stubbornness (Ps. 32:9). When we submit to God, even under the discipline He may allow in our lives, He ever watches over us for our good. We are always in the best place—even if it does not seem like it, depending on how we see and appreciate things—when we humbly submit to God. He has “thoughts of peace” for us, “and not of evil, to give [us] a future and a hope.”