This Is Part I of III; Here’s the Second Part, and Here’s the Third Part
Context Matters
EXILE TRILOGY EPISODE I
The other day I was talking with a friend, (via FaceTime of course, #SocialDistancing), and they shared with me how much they love that verse from Jeremiah. You know the one. It’s about how God has plans to bless us. And I love that verse… It was one of the first verses I memorized when I was a teenager. It goes like this:
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord… ummmm…
On second thought, let’s look it up. My memory isn’t what it was, haha!
“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.”
There is so much to enjoy about this verse:
God has plans!
God has plans for me!
God’s plans for me sound awesome!
Yay God! I love Him! He’s so good to me.
But it’s important to understand this verse in its context… and the context was exile. Here’s the far less famous verse 10:
“This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years…”
God’s people had just become slaves! Jerusalem had just been conquered! Things were dark… Here’s my paraphrase of what God is saying here.
“I know it’s bad. I know it’s dark. It might even get worse than what you’re experiencing right now. And in fact, it’s gonnu be bad and dark for a while. It might even feel like I’ve left you. But the truth is, I am here. I am with you and have I got plans for you…!“
I have misunderstood and misused verse 11 like it was some sort of blank check blessing. As if it were some sort of God insurance— my life won’t have anything bad happen in it, because it says so right here in the Good Book! Of course, that was immature thinking. I have difficulties in life, and my life doesn’t reflect this out-of-context promise.
And that’s why verse 10 is so important— and that’s why verse 10 is giving me hope today. Verse 10 tells us that yes it’s dark, but there is a future. Even though we are under a stay at home order trying to not catch COVID-19, I can hold onto the promises of God. Even though there may be difficult days ahead for all of us, God has plans. There is a future. We have hope.
Photo by John Salvino on Unsplash
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Tune in tomorrow for the second episode of my exile trilogy!