Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) 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. 

Today’s world is a stark reminder that we no longer live in a beautiful garden. We lost that privilege a long time ago when sin entered the world. We pray constantly for God to rescue us and get us out of this world of exile. Instead, we should seek God during our exile because He is doing something in us while we wait for Jesus to return.

 It was in Israel that something key happened: Israel’s dream of becoming a great nation died. While the exile resulted from their disobedience, God still had a good plan for them and would eventually restore them.

Jeremiah 29:11 is part of a letter the prophet Jeremiah sent to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The people had been taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar as a result of their disobedience to God. Many were hoping for a quick return to their homeland, but they did not want to hear Jeremiah’s message. Instead, Jeremiah told them they would remain in Babylon for 70 years, meaning that many would never return in their lifetime. This was extremely painful for the Israelites to hear, but a new dream was born out of the ashes of their broken dream. What if this new dream was not about armies and earthly treasures? What if the kingdom of God is a different kind, a spiritual kind of kingdom available to anyone, anytime, anywhere? 

God commanded the Israelites in exile to build houses, settle down, plant gardens, and eat what they produced. He told them to marry and have children, increase in number and not to decrease, and to seek peace and the prosperity of the city and pray for it because if it prospered, they would too. These commands show that God wanted them to live and thrive in Babylon but not assimilate to Babylonian beliefs or practices. God wanted His people to maintain their identity while being a light to the nations. This is what we as believers are called to do today. 

This week, let us pray for balance in our faithfulness to God as we actively participate in society. We can live in exile like the Israelites in Babylon—engaged with the world but not assimilated into its values.