Like many verses in the Bible, when you pull them out and let them sit by themselves, they can be so encouraging, so hope-filled. The only problem is when you do that, you lose the context in which the word or promise was given and it can cause you to feel discouraged or defeated.
Take Jeremiah 29:11. It's an amazing verse that tells us that God has plans for us and those plans are to prosper us, not harm us, and they are going to give us hope and a future! Amazing right! Sign me up for no harm (pain, suffering, hard) and put me down for a future filled with hope and prosperity!!! But...
I seriously doubt the people reading those words framed them and hung them on their walls. You see, these words were sent in a letter to the Israelites who were taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. God quickly clarified how/why the exile happened, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I HAVE SENT INTO EXILE from Jerusalem to Babylon..." It may have appeared that Nebuchadnezzar took them, but make no mistake, God sent them there. The letter continues, "build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they my bear sons and daughters; multiply there."
Can you image getting a letter from one of God's prophets that basically says, no reason to be mad at the king or the people in Babylon, I AM the one who sent you there. And don't live out of your suitcase thinking this is going to be a quick trip, unpack your stuff and build a life because you're going to be there for a while. Oh yea, and pray for the city where you are being held captive to prosper because only as it prospers will you prosper. Then, right before the famous 29:11, God says "when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place... FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU..."
If I were them, I would be thinking -- God wants to prosper me... but only if I pray for Him to prosper my enemies. God doesn't want to harm me... but yet He allowed me to be taken from my home and family to a foreign land. God wants to give me a hope... but He wants me to build a life here and wants my children to marry their children. God wants to give me a future... but I am going to be here for 70 years and I'll likely die here.
Isaiah reminds us that God's thoughts and ways are NOT our thoughts and ways. They are much HIGHER and much BIGGER! Jeremiah 29:11 is not a verse for me to take as my own and apply to my life. It is a line in a letter that gives perspective. In light of eternity, I am on this earth for a few short years. But God... He has been writing a story for thousands of years if I choose to allow my story to interact with His story, if I seek to see my story in His story, then I have to be ok with the hard and the messy. It's not about me but it is about Him and His glory.
If you find yourself in a season of exile, be encouraged by the promise he continued to give the Israelites, "...when you call on me, when you come and pray, I will listen. When you come looking for me you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and wanting it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed. I'll turn things around for you..."
Seasons of exile allows for space. Space to start over. Space to regroup. Space to plant new seeds. Space to build/create new things. Space to meet new people. Space to impact the world around you for the Gospel. Space to sit at the feet of Jesus. Space to slow down so you can see your story in light of God's story.
Don't sit around waiting for the promise of a future hope. Lean in and get to work right where God has you.
