thriving in exile

 People often reference Jeremiah 29:11 - 13:

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.

To really understand these verses and what they say to us, we have to look at them in context, because God's not actually talking to us here - he's talking to the Israelites. You can get some idea from just the verses themselves of course, but looking at the context gives us a much deeper understanding. 

The most important aspect of the context is that the Israelites were in a situation they didn't want to be in. They had been carried into exile in Babylon. They had been driven from their homes and taken to a strange land. A lot of false prophets were saying that they would be returning home relatively soon - in a year or two. So, things were pretty bad, but the false prophets were reassuring the people that this wouldn't last and things would return to normal. They just had to grit their teeth and get through this season.

The verses above are from a letter that Jeremiah wrote to the people from Jerusalem. He didn't get taken into exile. In his letter, before verse 11, he says that the so-called prophets are lying and that the Israelites should get on with their lives - plant crops, marry, work, participate in the community in Babylon, and so on - because, yes, they would be returning to Jerusalem, but it wasn't going to happen until 70 years had passed! Then, after that, we have verses 11 to 13. 

Imagine the devastation the people felt and how unwelcome Jeremiah's message was. It would seem unthinkable to these people who had lost everything and been taken as prisoners. Part of their loss was their whole cultural and religious life which very much revolved around the temple and Jerusalem. 

It would be hard for them to believe that God was really speaking through Jeremiah, hearing that God's plan for them was to make them prosper and give them hope, straight after telling them that they would be in exile, according to his will, for 70 years. 

It's within that tension that there is a lesson for us that teaches us about how to deal with our own struggles. 

It's ironically very comforting to realize that the challenges you're going through are not going to miraculously be alleviated. Things are going to stay hard because what you really want is relief but what God has planned is growth. God doesn't want you to return to what you've always known. It's comforting because you realize that the challenge continuing doesn't mean something is going wrong but rather it is pushing you to grow.