Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (NLT)

The Israelites were losing everything they had ever known. The Babylonians came after Jerusalem and took exiles to Babylon. Most of these exiles were not going to see their home country again! Jeremiah 29:1-23 is a passage where Jeremiah is writing to the exiles from Jerusalem telling them they need to move on with their lives. “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 many grandchildren.” (Jer 29:5-6).

Imagine everything has been pulled out from under you, you are in a foreign land, and just as soon as you decide you’re having a nightmare, the one prophet who claims to tell the truth from the living God tells you, “You’ll be there for a while so you might as well just get used to it.” Where is the hope in that? The Israelites were wanting simply to go home. They wanted reassurance that all was going to be well and they were going to get to go home. They didn’t want to settle in Babylon. God wasn’t going to leave the exiles in Babylon for forever; just for 70 years.

Here’s the problem, though. The Israelites weren’t wanting to go home to Jerusalem so they could worship their one true God. The problem with the Israelites is that their heart was torn between the one true God and their many other gods, or idols, they had created. They worshipped Baal, Molech, Asherah, oh, and God, too, when it was convenient. They wanted the perceived prosperity of being in their own land. They wanted the perceived idea that they controlled their own lives.

But, the Babylonians had overtaken Jerusalem, lead captives away to Babylon, and there in Babylon, the exiles were instructed by Jeremiah to “work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” (v.7)

Think of the worst possible situation you can find yourself and imagine you are to pray for that situation, you are to pray for that place, and you are to pray for its people. Would you do it? Could you do it? The worst place, in the minds of the exiles, was to be in Babylon. They were prisoners, foreigners, and strangers in a place not their own.

We’ve all been in Babylon once before; if not many times. The doctor’s office when cancer was mentioned. The hospital bed of a loved one dying. The realization of sex trafficking in our world. The hatred spread by groups trying to make others feel inferior. What street of Babylon are you walking down today? Are you praying while you’re walking? We must pray for those around us no matter how hard it is. Pray for their well-being. We just might be the light they need to see walking down a dark street.

God had a plan for the Israelite exiles. Just when they thought their existence was all but over, He reminded them of his plans for them. The disaster they saw in front of them was not their end. He promised them a future and a hope. A hope of returning home. We, too, have a hope that no matter the pain, the turmoil, or the evil around us, He is there. As we walk daily with Him, when we align our dreams and to-do-lists with His desires, He will provide hope. Hope goes a long way…especially when we know He has a plan for us in the midst of chaos.

© 2017 Susan M. Sims

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