His Good Word

“And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away…pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace…After…years are completed…I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.” Jeremiah 29:7, 10

 

This beautiful passage rarely gets recited like the verse that follows it.  We all know that Jeremiah 29:11 sings the beautiful melody of God knowing His plans for us.  They are not just any plans but plans that will not harm us but will prosper us.  As my pastor says, ‘context is everything!’  The precursor to the melody is quite a different tune than some might believe.  God is promising that while He has great plans for His children, those plans are many years away.  His encouragement is to offer His peace during the exile and to participate while in it.  He tells them to build houses and settle in…to plant gardens and eat the growth…to increase and multiply in numbers.  All of these things infer that His children will experience their exile for many years.

 

I began considering the years that I have been in exile in certain areas of my life.  I was wondering how many years have you been in exile whether it is a job, a medical condition, a relationship or something else.  One of the most powerful statements I heard this morning during the Take Courage Bible Study audio session by Jennifer Rothschild.  She stated, ‘We don’t know where the current of God’s plan will take us…but we must focus on the promise, not on the calendar.’ She goes on to say that while exile can have a long shelf-life it also has an expiration date set by God.  Scripture exhorts us to participate (build…plant) with our exile instead of isolating from it.  Jeremiah urges us to pursue God for peace during it instead of focusing on the chaos of it.  And lastly, we must be patient in the exile with ourselves…with the process…and with God.

And one beautiful day, we will walk in the day of ‘His good word’…the day He is to visit us…to act on behalf of us…and to return and restore us in the beautiful land He planned.