“I will bring health and healing to it. I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security . . . Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it.” (Jeremiah 33:6, 9 NIV)

I was looking for verses that would contain thoughts of “change” along with promises of joy. My own life is in flux now with lots of change in the wind, and my churning stomach and sleepless nights are a constant reminder that I haven’t yet got a handle on this whole “rejoice always” package. Trust me, it’s easer to write about than it is to actually do in the trenches.

But I’m determined to try.

To the Israelites to whom Jeremiah wrote, this promise seemed to ring hollow against the backdrop of their reality. Yet the promise was sure–God was going to bring health and healing, peace and security, with the ultimate goal that they would give back to him the glory due to him. Change would be good for everyone involved.

Sometimes change is necessary in order to bring about that very health and healing. In fact, health and healing are themselves changes when laid against a time of hurt or pain. To get to healing sometimes requires a time of surgery, or recovery, or rehab. But eventually, healing comes. Good change occurs.

I believe that God wants the very best for us. I believe that when we call he “will answer [us] and tell [us] great and unsearchable things [we] do not know” (v. 3). The promise here is to God’s people, Israel, yet I do know that God works in all of his people’s lives to make beauty instead of ashes as Isaiah wrote (Isaiah 61:3) and to restore us so that we might glorify him. He is always in the business of restoration.

Every little step of trust and faith that we take–even when life changes throw us, even when we’re not sure where we’re going, even when things don’t make sense–is a step that pushes back the darkness and confusion Satan wants to give us. Each step says to God, “I don’t see where I’m going but I trust you.” After all, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

So in the midst of changes in my household, good ones, I grab onto God’s promise of renewal and restoration, of “hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11), of health and healing.

May we bring you renown, joy, praise, and honor, Lord, because of what you have done for us.