Scripture:
Jeremiah 29:10-14 NKJV
[10] For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. [11] For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. [12] Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. [13] And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. [14] I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Observation:
I love these verses. I know most of us zero in on the 11th verse because it speaks of hope and inspires us to keep holding on to the hard times. Backing up to verse 10 and reading through to verse 14 gives us another picture and keeps the verse in the context in which it was put together. In verse 10, the LORD is speaking to Jeremiah and telling him that HIS chosen people are being sent into captivity in the great Babylonian empire. You can see that captivity is written about in greater detail in the first part of the book of Daniel. Where Daniel and his 3 friends put into practice the reason for the captivity by standing for GOD in the face of death. In other words, they called in HIS name and sought HIS face with all their heart. It was probably pretty easy to do from the trial they were facing getting ready to be thrown in the fire and/or the lion’s den. To them, the only thing that mattered was that GOD was pleased with them. They were told not to pray to YAHWAH, yet they did anyway. Not caring what might happen. Looking at verse 13, that’s what the plan was all along. GOD just wanted a real relationship with them, not something superficial. HE was looking for deep, intimate, wholehearted love and devotion. Let’s look at verse 13 really closely, ” and you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” HE was seeking a relationship… with them, so HE allowed them to be placed in captivity so that they would seek HIS face, but listen verse 14 plays a part in all this as well. Because once they got to the point where they were seeking HIS face with all their heart, HE returned them to their rightful place. It was never HIS intention to leave them there. The reason for the captivity was so that they could understand the desperate need they had for GOD and submit to HIS ways.
Application:
I remember the depravity and degradation of my sin and drug addiction. I remember not wanting to be there in that cell, but knowing I was the reason I got there and the only thing I could do was talk to GOD. It’s ironic that’s what HE wanted in the first place. So HE allowed my actions to land me in a place where all I could do was look up. Some people call it jailhouse religion. I call it life-changing moments. I met GOD in a jail cell more than once it just turns out I’m pretty hard-headed. I would try and fail, try, and fail for a number of years. Before I started to realize that GOD wanted me to be consistent. HE wants a real relationship with me. One that happens in the good times as well as the bad. As I learned through creating my own prison. That GOD wanted to set me free, not punish me. I found that the chains of my captivity could be easily broken if I would just learn to seek HIM in all times, and as I learned to seek HIM in the good times as well as the bad I found more good times happening in my life. Hard times produce strong men easy times tend to produce weak men. All the captivity had its purpose, and that was to teach me to seek HIM with all my heart. You may be at that place in life where you are starting to come out of the captivity of your own making. Or you may be on your way back to captivity if there are still things you didn’t learn the first time. I have been back and forth several times, and like I said, I can be hard-headed. I just want to encourage you to seek HIM. Get down on your knees and cry out to HIM. All HE wants is to hear your voice. HE is seeking a real relationship with HIM. Seek HIM in the good times as well as the bad. Stay connected to the vine. At all times. Stand on HIS promises to you. HE has a plan for you. It’s a good plan, but if you don’t seek HIM, you will never fully understand it. So seek HIM with everything that is in you.
Prayer:
Father, we want to see you. We want a relationship with you that can not be shaken. We know that you have allowed us to get where we are so that we can learn how to look up and depend on you. That was the lesson you gave your people in the wilderness by providing only the daily manna. You want us to stay connected. Not just when we think we need you. But at all times. You want a real relationship with us. Show us how to seek you in the good times. We are so tired of the captivity. We just want you. Give us rest as we wait under the shadow of your wings. Help us abide in you always. As we meditate on your word day and night. Our hearts are yours. Keep our eyes fixed on you. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.