God has a plan for you to prosper

“I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

There have been times I have felt like I was in exile and I bet you have also had those times. It seems like everything around you is collapsing and nothing seems to go right. It is during those times where you perhaps find yourself calling out “God you abandoned us” or “Where are you God?” 

I imagine it would have been similar to the Israelites that the Prophet Jeremiah was writing to in this passage. They had been driving from their homes and sent into exile. Babylon had conquered them and they were now having to leave everything they knew and all the comforts of home. Angry at God? I am sure they were angry. Homesick? I almost confident that could describe many of them.

I travel quite frequently and when I am gone for an extended period of time then I find myself just wanting to be home. I want the comfort of my own bed, to see my dogs, to cook my own meals, and to be around the chaos of my family. I imagine many of the Israelites were thinking of life before and what life was like now. 

There is a lot of historical evidence, however, that shows the Israelites were not like us. They were not living in a first world society that had everything from fast food and AI generated “helpers” at their fingertips. They did not have modern technology or vehicles. Yet, somehow, I imagine they longed for home. 

Their understanding of God was vastly different. Jeremiah is basically writing to tell them to take a chill pill and be patient. Perhaps they have that in common with us because we certainly do not like to “chill” and “be patient”. Jeremiah was reminding them that their cries to God would be answered, but it just may not be in their timing. In fact, they may not even live long enough to see God return them out of exile back to their homeland. 

The words of Jeremiah, though, as uttered by the Israelites are not complaints. They are not murmurings and whining of spoiled children about how God is unfair. They are, in fact, addressed toward God. They can be viewed as a sort of prayer rather than complaints to others about their situation.

They were not complaining and whining to each other about their situation. They were praying. In fact, they were praying their complaints while being reminded that they are to be patient and wait. They are to trust. Their response to being in exile was prayer.

Oh how we could take some lessons from them! God certainly has a plan for you. His plans are not for you to stay in exile. They are not for you to feel abandoned and they are certainly not for you to fear or fail. He has a plan. Trust and pray.