December 3, The Bigger Picture, by D. Mayo

Jeremiah 29:10-14
For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I
will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Theme: 
Promised a future of hope, even in a moment of despair.

Illustration:
In these verses, God tells his people to “hold on” for seventy years. They have been exiled to Babylon, and God wants them to start over in this new land and be of good faith while living out these seventy years.
During their time in Babylon God tells his people to pray and be faithful. And, at the end of the seventy years, God promises to bring them home, and life will be restored to earlier good times.

In this story, God’s people are in despair and feeling hopeless. One doesn’t have to look very far today to see people who are in despair, and the types of despair and the degrees of despair are many. You may have a friend recently diagnosed with cancer or know a young couple who has been unsuccessful in trying to have a baby or have a child who is struggling with depression. Despair comes in all shapes and sizes. And, when we are in the midst of despair it is often very difficult to be of good faith and trust that everything will work out fine.

Our six-year-old granddaughter experienced despair recently when she didn’t get one of several awards given out at her school quarterly for academic achievement, positive behavior, good citizenship, etc.
Meanwhile, her older brother did receive an award. Though this may not seem like something that could create despair, she felt bleak. Her parents explained to her that she should continue her good behavior and hard work, and she will be in line for recognition in future award ceremonies. Six-year-old children, like many of us, sometimes don’t really understand the concept of delayed gratification. Particularly when the delayed outcome requires us to be faithful through good times and tough times.

It seems these verses in Jeremiah are telling us to “hold on” and trust God is working for us, but I believe there is also something we can learn from these verses that doesn’t have to do with delayed gratification. And that is the idea that, no matter what changes we face in our lives, we should try each day to live our best lives while glorifying God. Loving God and serving others might just make the seventy years wait seem shorter, and perhaps less meaningful because we are living our best lives.

Takeaway: 
Our timeline is not God’s, so even in the midst of despair he is with us.

Prayer:
Loving God, thank you for reminding us that you have our plans and welfare taken care of. When our despair is weighing us down, we come to you to take it from us and to give us hope.