How Do You Like Waiting?

I have read and heard Jeremiah 29:10,11 for many years. Most of the time it is taken out of context. Yes, it does mean that God wants us to have peace, a future, and a hope. However, He makes this promise to those in exile in Babylon, and it will come 70 years later. How do you like waiting? If God was calling you to wait several years before receiving His full blessing, could you faithfully wait on Him? That is a question we all need to answer.

God's will for Israel in Jeremiah's lifetime was the opposite of what we would expect. God promised blessings to those who gave up and went over to the Babylonians. The ones who were rebellious and stayed in the land received God's punishment. That sounds strange, doesn't it? That is the context of this promise, though. God told them to live in the land of Babylon 70 years. Seek the peace of that country. Live right, pray, and raise your families. Only after that period of waiting would God bring them back to Israel. That is the peace, hope, and future He was promising.

Therefore, if we listen to the Lord and He says to wait, we need to obey. We should not be upset that His plan is different from what we would do. He has a purpose. The people of Israel were not ready to seek Him with their whole heart until after 70 years of waiting. However, they got there, and that is where they should have been all along. Where do you need to be? Are you willing to wait on God in exile, if that is what it takes to get you there and to then be blessed by God? He may be asking you to do just that.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 30-33.