All of us are in exile of one kind or another. We are aliens after all, living in a realm that is not our eternal home, so we shouldn't find it strange when we the world does not agree with us or we encounter hardships; when our leaders, our neighbors, even our own bodies don't behave as we think they should. Instead we should remember that it is the Lord who has placed us where we are, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Some of us are already in prosperous places, by God's design, and others in less tenable positions. In all instances, we have but one response: to seek the peace and prosperity of the city into which we have been carried into exile. We are to seek peace for this planet, we are to seek prosperity for this planet. Not just for us, not just for God's people, but for the whole of creation. That's why God placed each of us where we are at this point in time.
Jeremiah was thought of as a doomsayer. While his contemporaries were promising the return of those in exile to a crumbling Jerusalem, Jeremiah told the exiles to settle where they were, to build houses and families, to live their lives as if they were truly home. We have to do the same. We know this is not our final destiny, but we have to live our lives as if we were truly home. We have to bring prosperity, healing, the hope of redemption to the alien world around us. If it prospers, we will prosper as well.
2010 Post - Jeremiah 28-29: Surrounded by Voices of Hope
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