“‘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.’”
Jeremiah 29:11
Jeremiah 29 is probably most famous for its eleventh verse. However, there is an interesting section in the first part of the letter that I had always glossed over until my world came crashing down. God commanded the Israelites to build good lives in their place of exile. They were to construct homes, settle down, plant gardens, and pray for the city they had been sent to.
When a new reality shattered the old life that I dearly loved, the last thing I wanted to do was accept it. I wanted to change it, force it to acquiesce to my plan, and get back on track to where I wanted to go. I didn’t want to settle down into this new life, to attempt to flourish in it or coax fruit from it. But in time, I learned that while life may not be all we want it to be, there is still fruitfulness in it.
I want to encourage those of you who, like me, find that life has taken you where you never imagined. God still has a purpose for this seemingly irredeemable version of your life. The field you believed to be fallow yields good fruit because of Jesus.
When a new reality shattered the old life that I dearly loved, the last thing I wanted to do was accept it. I wanted to change it, force it to acquiesce to my plan, and get back on track to where I wanted to go. I didn’t want to settle down into this new life, to attempt to flourish in it or coax fruit from it. But in time, I learned that while life may not be all we want it to be, there is still fruitfulness in it.
I want to encourage those of you who, like me, find that life has taken you where you never imagined. God still has a purpose for this seemingly irredeemable version of your life. The field you believed to be fallow yields good fruit because of Jesus.
Scripture Focus
Jeremiah 29:4-14
Insight
“Do not let earthly cares impede,/ For great your strength when great your need.” (Henry Kirke White, 1806)
Bible In A Year
- Jeremiah 37-38
- Psalm 120
- 1 Corinthians 14
