Jeremiah 20:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.” (WEB)
This is one of the most mis-used verses in the Bible. Generally when people use it they are thinking that their future is going to be rosy and wonderful, everything is just great.
But hold on a minute … when you read it in context, these words were spoken by God to His people when He was sending them into exile in Babylon – and they were going to be there for seventy years!
Seventy years exile in a foreign country where they would be cut off from the temple and its services, and where they would be immersed in a foreign culture, not knowing the language or customs. Doesn’t sound very much like rosy and wonderful to me.
In fact this was harsh discipline for a people who had stubbornly refused to listen to God’s prophets and had insisted in following their own ways. Like all discipline, it was ultimately for their good. Babylon finally knocked the idolatry out of Israel. When they finally returned after the exile foreign gods were no longer an issue – and just to make sure they didn’t again become an issue, Ezra and Nehemiah dealt quickly and strongly with those who had married foreign wives. But, like all discipline, it certainly would not have felt good at the time.
So please don’t go around claiming this verse for yourself – unless you are acknowledging that you have been in rebellion against God, and are accepting the seventy years of discipline that He is handing you as being ultimately for your good.