Hannah Anderson’s daughter couldn’t take another disappointment.

In the wake of COVID, she had lost a trip, an internship, and a college course—all things she’d worked hard to earn and experience. When she and her mom began discussing a graduation trip, it just became too much.

“I can’t talk about this,” she said. “I can’t handle getting excited. It just hurts too much when things get canceled.”

Anderson understood, and she found herself reminded of Jeremiah 29:11. The verse tells us that God has plans to prosper us, to give us hope and a future. But what does that really mean?

“Christians often interpret this as a blanket promise that ‘good things are right around the corner,’” Anderson writes. “If we just keep a positive mental outlook, we can know that God has #blessings in store.

“But contextually, this promise is given to the Jews recently exiled to Babylon. The faithful remnant had heeded Jeremiah’s warnings to submit to the coming judgment, and now in Babylon, they receive a letter from him telling them to settle down there. In the wake of uncertainty and loss, they’re asked to make long-term commitments like marrying, building houses, and planting gardens.”

It’s anything but easy to look forward when all we see around us is hardship and loss. But God meets us in our grief, not only by comforting us in the wake of what’s left behind but by urging us to put our hands to the work he has given us. Much has been lost in these past few years, but not all. And as we continue entrusting the future to God, we “find our vistas of possibility expanded and our dreams renewed.”