“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Jeremiah 29:4–7 (NIV)
God’s entire message to the Israelites in Jeremiah 29:4–14 seems to be: Be herenow. Be content and invested in the life you have, instead of wishing for a different life.
But much like me, the Israelites had a hard time receiving this message, and instead of digging in where they were, some of them even looked to false “prophets and diviners” (v. 8) seeking a different answer, perhaps looking for a magic formula to get what they wanted out of God.
For me, and maybe for you, the fantasies and lies I choose to believe are the ones that say busyness is next to godliness. And this idea, that we should strive to do more, be more, have more, and work more in order to have “the perfect life” has fed into my core belief that I am not enough—that where I am is not enough, and that my life is not good enough.
If we are to believe both our culture and our religious institutions, the only way to succeed in life is to run ourselves and our families so hard, so relentlessly, so ragged, that we become shredded, depleted shadows of who we are created to be: whole, loving, thriving people.
Like so many others around me, I had fallen for this lie of the get-happy-quicker gimmick-sellers, of the grass-is-greener soothsayers, and I had nearly driven myself and my family to the brink of insanity. I was no better than the Israelites in the book of Isaiah. I had refused to rest, refused to do my life at a sustainable pace, and most of all, refused to live the life God was offering me.
Reflect:
Read Jeremiah 29:1–14 and Isaiah 30:15. What can you learn from God’s message to his people in Jeremiah and Isaiah? How might God be challenging you to live in greater contentment and rest?
Pray:
In prayer, identify with God areas of your life in which you are needlessly striving and discontent. In prayer, seek God’s guidance about ways you can you grow in trust and contentment.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
We’ve got little information on Jesus’ appearance and personality. But that’s the way God designed it.españolFrançais
Beyoncé’s right. Whether listening to Cowboy Carter or reading theology, diversity is a good thing.
