Our scripture this morning is Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NASB1995).
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah had prophesied about God’s coming discipline for many years. The people forgot the warning of Moses in Deuteronomy 8:14 “then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” They had become full of themselves rather than full of God.
God had given them a “timeout” in the desert where they learned to trust Him after some missteps. Now in the promised land they had forgotten Him and another “timeout” in Babylon was coming. Jeremiah now begins a series of lessons about the hope for the future.
Most parents will say they take no pleasure in giving children a timeout, but it is a necessary action to prevent greater harm. It allows the disobedient party to consider their behavior and their relationship to their parent. God is offering the people a blessing in disguise: an up close look at a society that lives without God, and a chance to renew their connection to our loving God who wants only the best for us.
Gracious God, we can’t see the entirety of Your plan, and our shortsightedness often leads us away from what You offer us. Forgive us and help us to trust when we do not see, walking by faith, not sight. Amen.
