Staying in Affliction

 

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.

—Jeremiah 29:4-6

The godly people of Israel, who had been carried off with those who had rebelled against God’s Kingdom, must have wondered what God meant for them in Babylon. They may have prayed and searched for years for their nation to give up its idols and return to the God of their history. But still, most of the people refused to obey. God carried out against them what He had promised, by way of a punishing exile to an ungodly nation far away from their homeland.

Yet, God knew His people who had remained faithful to Him. He sent His beloved prophet, Jeremiah, to them by way of a letter. In it, as recorded in Jeremiah 29: 4-7, God told them to build, and plant and settle down. Then He had Jeremiah write these words of instruction:

Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

This seemed like a strange piece of guidance. Can you hear them questioning God’s wisdom? He was asking them to live in this strange land as a blessing to the inhabitants there. Perhaps this did sound impossibly difficult at first. But then God, speaking through Jeremiah, added this in verses 10-14.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 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. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Perhaps you are feeling that this COVID-19 Pandemic and the “captivity” you feel by staying at home rather than doing and going will never end. Yet, if we look at this time through the window of God’s dealings with Israel and His promise to His dearly loved people, we see that He will bring it all to an end in His time. He promises good to His people and He will never fail them.

It is very possible that the COVID-19 Pandemic is the least of your trials. Perhaps your own “exile” into another foreign situation weighs on you day after day.

No matter what our individual circumstances, may the admonitions of Jeremiah, and the promises God sends give us peace and purpose. May He assure us that He will cause “increase” and “prosperity” to come into our lives, and that He sees the end from the beginning far better than we could ever possibly see.

Let us all sincerely take heart. And, let us settle down and determine to do good in whatever circumstance He has placed us, as we await His blessing.