Ps Darin Browne @ Ignite Christian Church
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Many of us know and love the verse about God having plans for us,
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
But having recently come across this in quiet times, I wanted to have a closer look at what this verse is actually saying, to whom and why.
WALK A MILE AS AN EXILE
Jeremiah 29 is a beautiful chapter, but it is written to people in a terrible position. The Babylonians had invaded Judah and had stolen all the wealthy, noble and skilled people, exiling them back to Babylon and leaving only a few leaders, a king and the “dregs” back in Jerusalem.
There were several exiles. The first in 605 BC removed Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo. In 597 BC 10,000 more were deported, including the likes of Ezekiel and King Jehoiachin, and a puppet government was installed in Jerusalem under Zedekiah. Jeremiah lived at that time under him, but was writing to the earlier deported and exiled people.
Imaging you are in your home one night, and soldiers burst in arresting you and your family. They steal everything you own, burn down your house and deport you as a captive thousands of miles away, to a country you know nothing about, to a people who look, act and speak differently to you.
These exiles had lost everything but their lives and what few possessions they could carry with them to Babylon. They’d lost their freedom and were now captives. They’d been taken from their homes and had lost their means of making a living. They were separated from relatives and friends, some of whom may have perished in the long march from Jerusalem to Babylon. No matter how they looked at it, the situation seemed hopeless.
That's what these people faced… deported to the other end of the world, mistreated, living in squalor, living in fear. Living in despair. Living without hope.
It was to these people, the so-called people of God, downtrodden, mistreated, worthless, scared, hungry and hopeless, that Jeremiah wrote his letter, and through it God said, “I know the plans I have for you.”
YOUR SEASON OF EXILE
These exiles were a long way from home. They were alone, hurting, fearful and disconnected from everything they knew, everything they had ever known.
You may not be physically exiled today, but chances are that you experience seasons of exile in your life.
You may not be banished to a far-away country, but perhaps there is distance between you and your spouse. Maybe you are isolated at work, alone at home or alone in your ministry. Maybe friends you've always been close to seem distant all of a sudden, and you don't know the reason why. Maybe you're sick or tired and there seems no reprieve. Maybe you're alone and overlooked, and it seems no one cares.
Perhaps you're exiled from other Christians. So many believers are dislocated from the body of Christ on the Coast. Many don't have a church to call home, and some have given up on church all together. You may have been hurt by a pastor, upset by a church or just bored with church life in general, so you face a period of exile, disenfranchised and alone, knowing you should be going to church, but unable to face it. You may even have periods of exile from God, when the Lord seems distant and you feel like you're stuck in a desert. You're hot, dry, thirsty and tired. You cry out to God, but nothing works.
Exile is never fun. Your time of exile may not last forever, but for a time it seems to stretch on and on. It’s a season of waiting, usually frustrating waiting. And you feel trapped. You feel isolated, without hope and you feel like you don't know how to bridge the gap!
So how do you react in your season of exile? When you're miserable, when you're alone, when you're discouraged and down and everything just sucks?
REACTING TO YOUR EXILE
The people of Judah were in exile, miserable and alone. They felt like God had abandoned them, let them down. I'm guessing many of them were not privy to some of the lead up to their exile.
Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah had warned the leaders of Israel that, if they continued sinning, they would be defeated and taken into exile. God spelled it out, but these guys ignored Him and so suffered exactly what He said He'd do.
Did these poor exiles do everything wrong? Nope, they were caught up in the collateral damage. But they were miserable and alone, none the less. They said the, and you might recognise it as a Boney M song from the 70s…
Psalms 137:1-5
By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
As you face your exile, you can collapse in a screaming heap of despair, and if you look at circumstances, you may feel you have every right to do that!
These exiles had every right to be despondent.
But along with the right, you have a choice… you can choose to see your exile differently.
Why?
Because during times of exile, when we are struggling and hurting, when we are lonely and feeling like God has abandoned us, He will fashion us more and more into what He intends us to be if we will let Him.
Even if He does not change our circumstances, He can and will change our hearts if our attitude is right and we believe His promises.
Ultimately we will determine the shape of our own futures by how we fare in our exile times. It will be our own actions and attitudes that will either hammer out or beat down the potential of our tomorrows.
So if you are there right now, if you are experiencing or have experienced a period of exile, maybe from someone you should be close to, maybe from church, maybe from God, then here are 7 steps to surviving and thriving in your exile..
7 STEPS TO SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN EXILE
1. FACE REALITY
There is a school of thought in Christianity that you should ignore reality and just believe and trust God for whatever you are praying for. The problem with this is that most people just ask God for what they want, not for His will.
Sticking your head in the sand when you are living through an exile experience is going to break your heart and let you down terribly. And besides all this, it's plain stupid.
So how should we handle such a depressing situation?
Step 1 is to accept it from the hand of God and let God have His way.
Jeremiah 29:4
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
It does no good to hang our harps on the willow trees and sit around and weep, although this may be a temporary normal reaction to tragedy (Psalm 137:1-4).
One of the first steps in turning tragedy into triumph is to accept the situation courageously and put ourselves into the hands of a loving God, who makes no mistakes.
Jeremiah wrote to the exiles, particularly to the elders and priests among the exiles, trying to get them to face reality. He wrote because he wanted them to know a few things about the situation they were in. The gist of what he told them is that even though you don’t want it to be this way, and even though you would wish it to be entirely different, the reality of it is that you’re in a situation that is not going to be resolved overnight.
The reality is that the unpleasant circumstance we may find ourselves in may not change today or tomorrow or the next day. In fact, it may never change. But that’s only part of the reality—the rest of it is that God is in charge, and we can trust Him.
2. CONNECT IN, DON’T ISOLATE YOURSELF
Jeremiah 29:5-9
Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.
The false prophets had convinced the people that the stay in Babylon would be a brief one, perhaps two years or so (vv. 8-9; 28:3). Therefore, there was no need to settle down and try to resume a normal life, but rather they should offer resistance and constant warfare.
But Jeremiah told them just the opposite. Since they would be there as long as seventy years (v. 10), there was plenty of time to build houses and set up homes. It was important that the exiles have families so there would be people available to return to Judea when the captivity ended. This small Jewish remnant was holding in its hands the future of God’s great plan of salvation, and they must obey Him, be fruitful, and multiply (v. 6).
Not only were they not to resist, but they were instructed to pray for the city in which they were captive. The exiles were to be peacemakers, not troublemakers, and they were to pray sincerely for their enemies (Matt. 5:43-48; 1 Tim. 2:1-3; Titus 3:1-2).
Remember, said Jeremiah, if we reject the wooden yoke of submission, we end up wearing only an iron yoke of subjugation…
Jeremiah 28:13
“Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron.
So if you are feeling exiled and disassociated right now, the best course is to yield ourselves to the Lord and to those who are over us, no matter how badly they may treat us. (See Peter’s counsel to Christian slaves in 1 Peter 2:18-25.)
Most often people experiencing exile distance themselves from others, from those who love them and even from the church. Our area is full of upset people who won't darken the door of a church again, and this is sad because there are churches and pastors who want to love them and care for them. I'd like to believe there are more loving, shepherding pastors than aggressive, controlling ones.
So if you've been hurt, or you feel disconnected from people, don't run, don't hide and don't assume the leadership is out to get you. Connect back in and in the long run you will be far better off!
3. DON’T GIVE UP
Who here ever feels discouraged? I can tell you now, the exiles were rock bottom discouraged, on a level you and I may never experience. Estranged from everything they knew, captive, persecuted, mocked, having lost everything, strangers in a strange land. They could be excused for giving up, right?
Do you ever feel tempted to give up? Perhaps right now you feel overlooked, forgotten, mistreated, and you want to quit. Satan’s goal is to get you to do just that—throw in the towel and call it quits. Discouragement is one of his most effective weapons.
But remember this: while disappointments are inevitable, discouragement is a choice. You have a choice right now… You do not have to yield to the devil’s debilitating whispers of doubt and fear or be trapped in self-pity.
During this terrible time in Israel’s history, God directed Jeremiah to speak words of hope and encouragement to the disheartened exiles in Babylon: “‘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.”’
Give up? Give in? Give me a break! The people of Israel could avoid discouragement by remembering that God had wonderful plans for their future.
If you are going through exile like them, don't lose sight of the fact that God is God! He made the stars and the galaxies, He controls them all, He transcends time and space and HE LOVES YOU!
4. KEEP A GRATITUDE ATTITUDE
When you are in exile, it's tempting to whine about everything. “Woe is me, nobody cares, I'm going through a private hell that no one seems to understand or even care about. I'm so alone. Think I'll go and eat worms!”
Your attitude is important if you're experiencing a time of exile. So how does yours measure up?
Do you subtly let everyone know, in little comments or barbs, just how disenchanted you are? Do you pull everyone else around into the whirlpool of despair you are drowning in?
Listen… You can’t control the cards that are dealt to you, but you can control how you play them. You can have a bad attitude—moaning, grumbling and participating in pity parties with others in the same pool… all drowning alone together! Or you can have a gratitude attitude. Your choice!
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God challenges us and commands us to make the most of our exiles, to experience greatness and prosperity even though we are in less-than-ideal positions. Why? Because during times of exile He will fashion us more and more into what He intends us to be.
This morning in my quiet time I read Hebrews 12:1-2. It talks about the crowd of witnesses cheering us on as we run the race. Now think of a hurdles runner… they don't look st every hurdle closely as they run, their eyes are fixed on the finish line. Being thankful takes your eyes off yourself and your circumstances and puts the, on the finish line.
He's shaping us, He's moulding us, He's developing character within us, if we have the eyes to see it. And the right way to see is with eyes of faith, and faith grows when we are thankful for what we do have, not critical of what we don't have!
5. DISCIPLINE YOURSELF
In 70 years of exile in Babylon, Israel sorted out her faith and rediscovered her deep need for the Lord. We must do the same. If we are ever going to reach our full potential, we must understand a very important truth: God is for us. He is not against us. Regardless of the trials we face, the hurt, the pain, the opposition, regardless of whether we get what we so desire and pray for, He is for us, not against us!
He often uses trials to position us for greater blessing, and even in times of great disappointment, we can trust that He has our best in mind and will work all things out for our good.
Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
He knows how He wants to use the exile time, with all its disappointment or hardship for our benefit. He wants us to see Him as our only source of salvation and blessing.
So if you are going through an exile experience right now, go to God in prayer. Tell Him all you are feeling. God has an objective view of the situation. He sees the future and knows the direction your life will take. He also wants you to totally depend on Him and not rely on the compliments of others, earthly success, or worldly resources to make you happy. Discipline yourself by praying and reading God’s Word, because these affect your faith and your attitude.
When you're in exile it's not always easy to be disciplined, but it's essential to truly grow in your exile. Daniel was one of the exiles Jeremiah wrote to, but he prayed every day in Babylon and became a great prophet of the Lord!
And while disappointments will come—you live in a fallen world, after all—you can live above it by focusing your heart on Jesus Christ. Rejoice and be glad in Him, whatever it is that you face right now!
Get disciplined and g t serious about coming out of the exile you are in now a better person and a stronger and more faithful servant of the Lord!
6. KEEP BELIEVING HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOU
Jeremiah wrote these words to the exiled people to remind them that, no matter what the false prophets preach, no matter what the circumstances dictate, no matter what your faithless heart throws up at you, He still has a plan.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
No matter what you see, God sees good for you. God sees a future and a hope, and when you understand what the exiled Jews were facing, these words become very powerful indeed!
We're captives, we’re poor, we’re alone, we’re thousands of miles from everything we know and hold dear… and Jeremiah, you're telling us that God has a plan for our future, for our prosperity and to give us hope?
Yep, He sure does.
But we often forget the next 2 verses after this one of promise…
Jeremiah 29:12-13
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
When you are feeling like an exile, hurt, alone, discouraged, that's when you need to press into God and seek Him with all your heart. Don't run, don't turn to sex or drugs or booze, don't throw yourself into your work or a hobby to dull the pain, just seek God, and He promises that when you seek Him, you'll find Him!
7. DON’T LOSE HOPE
In Jeremiah, the exiles were without hope, so he wrote to them to give them hope. Not the false hope of the false prophets, but real hope, and real advice on how to face their time in exile.
When we are in our own exile, we may be tempted to bog down in the ugly details of life. It may be difficult to visualise what tomorrow will be like, much less plan for next year, or beyond. But that is when true hope, God given, Bible based, Holy Spirit inspired hope is most necessary.
Whatever you face now in your time of exile, God is not finished with you yet, and in spite of the way things may look at any given moment, it is important for us to realise that God has a plan, that He knows what that plan is, and that He is going to be faithful to keep all the promises He has ever made. Every single one of them!
He has promised us He has a future for us, and for us to sit down and act as though there is no future is to deny the inexplicable love of our Heavenly Father. To be without hope is the gravest insult to the Father who loves you and gave His only Son in exchange for your life!
My brother-in-law’s marriage to my sister was falling apart. He had abused her, threatened her life, and he called me up to try and force me to release her whereabouts. He was a believer of sorts, he'd grown up in the church but he didn't have a close relationship to Jesus. He was a nice guy who'd lost hope, and he was my friend.
2 days later, devoid of hope, he put a rope around his neck and jumped, hanging himself in his garage. He could only see the problems, and he had lost all hope, and it killed him.
The sun goes down today, but the eyes of faith allow us to see that will rise again tomorrow, just as bright, just as life-giving. While in a difficult situation, we who know Jesus Christ should not act as though there will not be a tomorrow—because there will be! And He will be King and Lord tomorrow, just as He is today.
So if you are struggling with some sort of exile, some situation that leaves you feeling broken, alone, in despair or estranged from God or people, lift up your eyes and see the dawn of a new day.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Because He promises me…
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Some you here feel you face situations where there is little hope. Some of you feel alone, feel estranged, feel disconnected, feel like you are in exile, especially as Christmas approaches. Don't walk the road alone… let us stand and believe with you and support you out of your exile.
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