Our scripture this morning is Jeremiah 29:11-13.
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.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote this to the children of Israel during their captivity in Babylon, reminding them of God’s care for them even in a desperate time. However, even in crisis, we can find God. With Him, we always have a future, no matter what our current situation.
The Israelites have experienced this before, when God brought them out of Egypt. Moses warned them about forgetting the Lord when they entered the Promised Land and that there would be consequences. Still, God loved His people and Moses continues “then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you” (Deuteronomy 30:3).
It seems we are scattered today, fragmented by our competing ideas of what the world should be and how we can get there. We are the problem! If we seek God and His way we can see His promise fulfilled, but it will only happen “when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Gracious God, we are sorry for the way we treat You and each other, forgetting we are all Your children. Forgive us, restore us, and send us to be Your light in a world that needs it desperately. Amen.
