Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jer 29:14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
Did you ever hear someone say something to you and realize later that they meant something totally different than what you thought they said? This verse is like that--God used it to speak to me when I was 14, but I just now see a whole other meaning.
When I was 14 or 15, I was very confused and frustrated. I was living with my Mom who was not home a lot, and wondered if I should live with my Dad. In desperation, I flipped open a Bible and my eyes landed on Jeremiah 29:11. The idea that God had plans for me was encouraging--it was the first time that a scripture seemed to be tailor-made to my situation. I was encouraged, and began to make plans to live with my Dad.
Jeremiah 29:11 and the verses that follow became my life verse and I shared them with many people. I would especially share them with people in difficult circumstances or trying times as a way of saying, "See, God will get you out of this, He already has plans for you." I tended to read this verse a little like, "God has great plans for your life, and will get you out of the bad circumstances and into a better place soon."
Now, some of that is true, but yesterday I had an epiphany as I carefully read the context of that verse. The chapter is a letter Jeremiah wrote to people who were already in exile before the final fall of Jerusalem. The people were hoping for a quick escape from their captivity and false prophets were telling them they would only be there for two years. Jeremiah wrote them to tell them to settle down, have families and get cozy because it would be 70 years of captivity, not two. The promise of plans for these exiles (and for us!) comes in a context of accepting the current circumstances as they are, and focusing on God regardless of the circumstances.
That means, that although God has plans for circumstances in my life, His BIGGEST plan is for me to know and trust Him. And that plan can be worked out in any number of circumstances--regardless of how comfortable they are or how I feel about them. For so long, I have only thought of this verse in the light of God having plans for new circumstances for me, not that He has plans to make me know Him better IN the circumstances.
I am often, very often, discontented in being a trucker's wife. What had been a one-year emergency plan is going on 7 years and it has been hard to say the least. I had been using this verse with the idea that God had plans to change Greg's job and maybe my job, and to make it easier on us financially. I am now seeing that the plans God had were to get me to know Him better. To trust Him deeper. And those plans have marched along in the context of this awful job situation that we are enduring.
God does work to change circumstances and we need to keep praying and seeking Him for change. But if God thinks He can do a bigger heart change in us with the current set of circumstances, He will leave us in our needy place so we will seek Him for bigger goals, that of knowing Him.
Ultimately, all circumstances fade in the light of eternity. What our difficult circumstances do to our hearts if we will let them, will last forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment