When Things Look Bleak

There is a message in the Bible written by the prophet Jeremiah to God’s people who had been taken captive to a foreign land. He writes a God-given message of comfort, hope and forgiveness.

The people had lost loved ones to the conquering armies, their homes were burned and looted, Jerusalem, the city at the center of their religious practice, is in ruins. Their lives are completely disrupted and now they have been carried off to an unfamiliar land to be treated as second-hand people. What does the future hold? Where is the hope in this situation?

Have you been in circumstances where you may have felt similarly to a greater or lesser degree? Loss of loved one, family, career, home, health, financial security, reputation, are all vulnerable possibilities. What do you do when you feel stuck?

God’s people may have thought, “God will provide. He will rescue us soon and take us back home.” Or, they may have thought, “Let’s fight the good fight! Let’s push back and take our freedom!”

God’s response, delivered by Jeremiah, is something completely different. He instructs them to:

• 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, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease (suggests they are in it for the long haul)
• 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.” Jeremiah 29:5-7

What? Just lay down and take it? No armed resistance? How about a middle of the night mass escape like His people did in Egypt? Just stay there and take it? Act as if this is now the new normal?

Take a breath. God is still in control. It’s all about God’s timing, not ours. That is easy to say when things are going well but difficult to apply when things are messy or hurtful in life. Yet, it is still true. God is guiding them to things that bring meaning, purpose and joy in life, even in temporary or uncertain times. God has not revealed His timeline. God has not abandoned them. The joy and meaning can come in the here and now. He provides a way to carry on, take care of basic needs, celebrate life’s milestones, and even positively contribute to the society in which they find themselves. They serve God, not others.

Jeremiah concludes his instruction with a promise from God regarding this challenging situation, “’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.’” Jeremiah 29:11

Our Prayer of Confidence and Commitment is found in the words of the contemporary song “Great Are You Lord”:

You give life You are love,
You bring light to the darkness,
You give hope You restore,
Ev'ry heart that is broken.
And great are You Lord!

Listen to the entire song, “Great Are You Lord” here and use it to speak to God:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaP8fKAR2Og