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 Jeremiah 29:4-7 & 10-14

“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” 10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

In God's calling, the impossible becomes possible, the weak becomes strong, the wounded is healed, the devastated is restored, the refugees are delivered, the mute becomes the singer of songs. You may feel that you are in some sort of exile just now. Things maybe aren’t going the way you have to the best of your ability forecast them. But, even the very place of exile will become the environment of shaping a new future. Pray blessings on all around you; wherever you are just now, bless, even in the face of cursing. This is the incredible beauty in the wisdom of God. He has promised that if we will seek Him as the only thing to which we devote ourselves to (any other devotion is some for of idolatry), we will find Him. His plans are goodness, not disaster. When we understand THAT, it becomes the springboard for seeking Him, listening to Him, hearing from Him. In Jesus Christ, there is ALWAYS a future and a hope of living in His will for us; our very best.




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