Exile or Exodus?

“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

Do you ever feel alone? Maybe you feel like you are not connecting to God, or his purpose in your life, the way you should. I struggle with my purpose a lot and that verse from Jeremiah has comforted me many times.

Context is important in reading scripture. In Jeremiah 29, God does promise to prosper his people but after 70 years in Babylon. Do you really want to sit in exile waiting on a some form of a transformation to take place? You don’t have to sit in exile from your purpose in life.

There will be storms. Without the trials in life, you could not experience spiritual growth. As verse 7 says, seek peace and prosperity where you are.

You do not have to let your past problems define you. Leave them behind but remain in faith. When Moses took the captives out of Egypt, they began to get weary in their faith despite the miracles they had witnessed with their own eyes. If they had remained strong in faith, I have no doubt that they would have walked straight from the red sea to downtown Jerusalem. Instead, they walked in exile as well for 40 years.

You can do all things through faith. Our biggest problem as Christians is that we call ourselves believers but we just don’t believe THAT. We have forgotten how to expect miracles and we have placed ourselves in exile when we should be in an exodus from the burdens of our lives.