An unexpected beginning
| This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease ... For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah29:4-13) |
One would therefore have thought that the future of Israel lay in the remnant that remained behind in Jerusalem... BUT God's plan was to show the Israelites that they did not need the temple or Jerusalem to be the people of God. He wanted the exiles to see that they could grow wherever they were planted. They could prosper in enemy territory. They could flourish wherever they found themselves.
Sometimes we look at our own lives and ask ourselves
"What could God do in the this mess?"
"How could God possibly use me in these circumstances?"
Or we say to ourselves:
"When I have my degree - then I'll serve the Lord fully"
"When I've paid off the bond, or secured that promotion, then I'll serve God"
But God can start new things in the most unlikely places.
You don't have to work in a church to serve God - You can serve God as a banker, a teacher, a housewife, a student, a scholar.
Even if your circumstances are the result of a bad choice, God can turn them around! (The Israelites were in exile because they had sinned against God - but God's grace and love are bigger than our failure - and His purposes are not thwarted by our mistakes.)
God has a plan - and it's a good one - we need to be ready to grow where we are planted and seek God's plan with all our hearts.
--> Teach me O Lord that You can do amazing things in strange circumstances. Give me an ear to hear and a heart that is brave to grow where I am planted.
