God, Get Me Out of Here!

During the first Jewish diaspora, the people of God were carried away to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  They were torn away from their beloved homeland and separated from their loved ones. The people of God found themselves in a strange land where there was no fear of God.   This was a place in which they didn't want to be.  They cried out to God to bring them back to their homeland and lift this burden that seemed  too hard to handle.  In the 29th chapter of Jeremiah, God sends a word through the prophet Jeremiah to those Jews that had been carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
  

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace" (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

We must first note that it was God who caused the Jewish people to be carried away to Babylon into captivity.  It is often God that takes us to those places in our lives where we don't want to be. Gasp!  April, God wouldn't do such a thing!  Yes, God would do such a thing.   He is using this uncomfortable place to make you more like Him.  The good news is that if he takes you to such a place in you life, He will be the one to take you out of it when it is time. 

Next, notice how God told the people to build houses in Babylon, live in them, plant gardens, eat the fruit thereof, takes wives and husbands, and have children and great-grandchildren.  In essence, God was letting them know that they were going to be here for a while so they needed to live their lives and find peace in this particular place.  This is not what the people wanted. They wanted  God to rescue them immediately,  but this was not God's will yet. We see a couple of scriptures later that it would be 70 years before God would take them back to Jerusalem (and He eventually did, true to His word).  So often, we ask God to rescue us from particular seasons or places in our lives.  We cry to God to make a way out when He is the one that made a way in to this place. We throw spiritual tantrums (can I get a witness?) and resist what He is doing.  What we must realize is that God may relieve us of our burden in a short period of time, or He might keep us in a this place for a longer period.   I know the pain seems so unbearable at the moment that we can't imagine months or even years of feeling like this, but just like God told  the people to seek the peace of the city where they were carried away to, he is telling us to do the same.  He instructed them to embrace this place for it was where God had placed them.  Some of you may be living with cancer or some other disease while some of you might be dealing with heavy marriage problems or you're seeing your spouse go through something very hard. Others might be experiencing unemployment or homelessness, bankruptcy, the death of a loved one, a divorce, or even just loneliness.  Maybe you are experiencing obstacles in your ministry.   I don't know the place where God has you right now, but God does. He wants you to know that He has you in this place and everything is going to be alright. Don't fight it, but get on your knees and ask Him to give you peace in this place and grace to make it through. God will not rescue you, but He will renew you.  He will not allow for a place of escape, but He will allow you the grace to endure until it is time to bring you out and mark my words. HE WILL BRING YOU OUT in His time. In verses 10-14, we read God's word to His people,

"For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place...Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." 

 When all is said and done, you will know God in such a wonderful way. You will look back and see how God transformed you and your family. You will see how God changed and perfected you.  You will see how God is faithful to answer you and accomplish that which He promised.  Why should we trust God to fulfill His promises in us and answer our prayers?  The answer can be found in verse 11 of the same chapter,  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).  Know that you serve a loving God who has a wonderful plan for your life. Know that He finishes what He started.  Know that He hears your prayers even when you don't feel Him.  He will not just leave you in the place to die there, but will be with you through it all.  That's the kind of God that we serve.