Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 24,27,28,29 and James 4
One of my favorite messages from God is this “ I’ve got you”. This is one of the most comforting and reassuring messages that God continues to give me throughout my life. In the world where so many things are variable and ever changing, God continues to tell me “I’ve got you “. This message doesn’t say that it’s going to be easy or that it’s going to be fair or that I’m not going to have hardships or trials. It states that he will help us and be there to guide us through everything.
“Then God told me, “This is the Message from the God of Israel: The exiles from here that I’ve sent off to the land of the Babylonians are like the good figs, and I’ll make sure they get good treatment. I’ll keep my eye on them so that their lives are good, and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up, not tear them down; I’ll plant them, not uproot them. “And I’ll give them a heart to know me, God. They’ll be my people and I’ll be their God, for they’ll have returned to me with all their hearts.”
Jeremiah 24:4-7 MSG
“‘I’m the one who made the earth, man and woman, and all the animals in the world. I did it on my own without asking anyone’s help and I hand it out to whomever I will. Here and now I give all these lands over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have made even the wild animals subject to him. All nations will be under him, then his son, and then his grandson. Then his country’s time will be up and the tables will be turned: Babylon will be the underdog servant. But until then, any nation or kingdom that won’t submit to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon must take the yoke of the king of Babylon and harness up. I’ll punish that nation with war and starvation and disease until I’ve got them where I want them.”
Jeremiah 27:5-8 MSG
“This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, to all the exiles I’ve taken from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and make yourselves at home. “Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country. “Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away. “Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare. “Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for Babylon, things will go well for you.” This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10-11 MSG
In reading Jeremiah, I have a new understanding of God‘s provision for us. In these chapters, we have some of the most memorable verses:
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope“.
But when you really dive deep into this, you can see a different story. The majority of my life I have thought of the Babylonian conquest and the Babylonian empire as a season where the Israelites were persecuted and deliberately mistreated. But reading through chapters 24, 27, 28, 29 and actually understanding it in a different perspective, God actually had them covered from the beginning to the end and the exile and the Babylonian conquest. God actually protected the people in their exile. He gave them instructions that he was there in the midst of everything. He instructed them to grow and flourish in this exile from their land. He was putting his hand of protection around them in the midst of their exile. This is a continuation of God‘s provision for us.
When we look back at the chronicles of the Bible Cannon, we can see how God has protected us in the midst of change and in the midst of chaos.
- Egypt
- The wilderness
- Exile
God is continuously protecting us in these chaotic times. He is allowing us to grow, and he is allowing us to lean into him. From my own experience when things become chaotic and difficult, I tend to retreat into myself. But as I am reading, and having God mentor me through these passages, I will attempt to lean into him more. I will attempt to not retreat into me, but retreat into Him, and not hinder my blessings that He has in store for me. I will make an effort to not withhold my seeds in time of famine, but just continue to sow them for His growth. He doing an amazing work in me. He is the Gardener and the Protector and the Perfector of all that he does in me. So I remembered that he’s telling me “I’ve got you”.