"Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have children. Then find souses for them so that you may have grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!" (Jeremiah 29:5-6 NLT)
The Israelites were in exile and they were oppressed. The tendency in exile is to sit down and wait for rescue. Instead God told them to settle in. Build their lives in Babylon. Make babies and grow gardens. Otherwise generations would pass and their people would waste away to nothing. There would be no remnant to return home.
The temptation in a season of wait is to grit our teeth and bear it, bullying our way through until the season changes and we can get back on track. The trouble is, we miss blessings when we bully through.
God longed to bless His people in even in exile. He made it clear through His prophet Jeremiah: homes, gardens, provisions, companionship, and multiplication. These are all good things, they were gifts that God was eager to give His people despite their foreign footing. The Israelites would have to settle this issue of exile and begin to build their lives in Babylon, trusting that God could and would transplant them when the time came.
We waste seasons of wait when we fail to attend them fully. Wherever we are, there we are –– we need to show up in trust, in relational availability and with faith that the Living God is not limited by location. He is with us even when we are stuck somewhere we’d rather not be.
Last week, my bestie turned forty-five. Honestly, it hit us both kind of hard. Forty-five is half way to ninety. And who is guaranteed ninety years? We were both contemplating: how have we spent this first half of life?
The truth is, this is our one little life. We only get so many Saturdays with our kids, lunches with our coworkers, walks where we are able-bodied, opportunities to engage with broken people. If we aren’t faithful to show up no, no matter how in between we feel, then why would God entrust us with a return trip to the good life we were expecting?
"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones." (Luke 16:10 NLT)
Lord, please forgive us for wasting opportunity. Our life feels so ordinary, it’s easy to lose sight of the extraordinary. Give us courage to show up and love big, even when our feet are standing someplace we’d rather not be. Help us represent You well in any space You choose to lead us or leave us. Remake us as faithful even in the smallest moments. Amen.