We often hear about this famous promise by God that he has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future, but what we often forget is the context. In Jeremiah 29 where this promise is given to Israelites exiled to Babylon for 70 years, Jeremiah also told in the same breathe that Israelites that they will seek and find the Lord when they seek God with all their heart.

Do we seek the Lord with all our heart? If not, why do we think we can seek him? We can only place our hope on the Lord if we know him - we need to build up our relationship with him by reading the word and putting it into action. This builds up not just intellectual knowledge but gives us biblical revelations from God himself, which translates into hope we can draw upon regardless of life's circumstances.