Jeremiah chapter 27: verses 4-11 (NIV)
Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. ⁷ All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.
“‘If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I destroy it by his hand. So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the LORD.”’”
Jeremiah chapter 29: verses 10 – 14 (NIV)
This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my good 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 on 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. 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.”
How do we react when we find ourselves in a situation that we don’t want to be in? When what we hoped for doesn’t come to pass? When God says, “No, not that way – this way.” God’s plans for us may involve us enduring a time of trial and testing. Sometimes when we pray, “God, please get me out of here,” He will answer that prayer, but at other times, He will take us on that path and expect us to learn and grow in the place where we are.
Judah and Israel would not listen to God, and they were desperate for things to be different. They ran around looking for people to tell them what they wanted to hear. They wouldn’t listen to Jeremiah when he told them what God had said, because its not what they hoped for, and yet God promised if they did as He said, He would cause them to prosper and grow where they were, and at the appointed time He would bring them back. Perhaps it was because there was to be no quick fix and they didn’t want to have to wait seventy years.
I don’t like waiting either, but I need to remember that God knows what He is doing and He has plans for my life, and they are good ones, even if they are different from mine.
Dear Lord,
Thank You that You have plans for my life. Help me to be willing to go the way You choose, even if Your plans are different from mine. And help me to be patient if they are not fulfilled as quickly as I would like them to be. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.