“For I know the plans I have for you”-this is the Lord’s declaration-“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
You will call to Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”     Jeremiah 29:11-13 HCSB

Our Scripture passage today comes from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was also known as the weeping prophet because God had given him the daunting task of letting the Israelites know that God was tired of their half-hearted commitment to Him. God was tired of their constantly messing up and wanted them to turn from their sinful ways and repent. God wanted them to dedicate their lives to Him and love Him as He had loved and cared for them all these years. They were His chosen people, but they often chose to worship false gods.

This text comes from a letter that Jeremiah had sent to the elders, the priests, the prophets and all the people that King Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon. Jeremiah is letting them know that God wants them to build houses, plant gardens, take wives and have children, take spouses for their children so that they too may bear children and multiply. God wanted them to seek the welfare of the city to which they were being deported. He wanted them to pray for the welfare of this city and He told them when it prospered, they would prosper.

The Israelites were going to pay a hefty price for their disobedience. God is warning them through Jeremiah that they will be held in captivity for 70 years. That’s a pretty long sentence. But God wants them to understand that they can have a good life in their captivity in Babylon. But, they need to focus on Him. They need to pray to Him, they need to seek Him with all their heart. And really, when do we do our best praying? It’s when we are in some dire circumstances, right? I seek the Lord wholeheartedly when I have gotten myself into a jam. It often takes total devastation to bring us to the Lord.

God is telling them that He wants good things for them and they can have homes and gardens and families there in Babylon. God is telling them that they must endure the 70 years there but for those that focus on Him, He will take good care of them.

Maybe you are in a situation today that feels as though you have been taken captive and are being held in a pagan society. You may not understand why you are there, but you need to trust in God and do His work while you wait for deliverance. This is not the time to pack up your toys and sit and wait for the move. This is the time to get to work. This is the time to serve the Lord. Cry out to God and seek Him with your whole heart. Don’t let the devil distract you with what the non-Christians are doing. Just stay on the course that God has plotted for you.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us not to rely on our own understanding but to trust in the Lord and acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will guide our paths. There have been many times when I did not understand why God had put me in certain situations. It took a while for me to learn to get close to Him and do what He was instructing me to do even in the difficult times. He has always brought me through safely to the other side.

If you are in a difficult situation, turn to God. Seek Him with your whole heart. Don’t allow the evil in that situation to distract you. When I think about people like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Esther, Mordecai, and Nehemiah I can’t help but think about how God provided well for them and took good care of them even during their Babylonian captivity. Why? Because they were people who sought God with their whole heart.

Romans 8:28 tells us that all things will work for our good if we love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. If you are in a difficult situation, take a good look at your life. Are you seeking the Lord with your whole heart or are you giving Him the leftovers? Are you living the life He would have you to live?

Call out to Him, seek Him with your whole heart. He wants good things for you and will give them to you if you do as the Bible commands us to do. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Love your neighbor as you love yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). God will take good care of you, especially in the hard times.

Have a great day!