Hello all,
I’m thinking about exile. Why? A youth pastor from the area was put in jail because of an accusation by a young girl their family had befriended. She lashed out at him, apparently, because of her advances being ignored. Their church community is in an uproar! How can this happen? Where is the justice? How can she get away with this?
This morning I was reading Jeremiah 29 which holds one of the most loved Scriptures to which many cling when things look bleak: Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a hope and a future.” (ESV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.(KJV) I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.(MSG) 11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.(AMP)
We have memorized that Scripture but have we read the preceding verses? God is delivering a message of hope to those He has sent into exile. Did you catch that? Whom HE had sent into exile. How many times do we try to squirm, connive, appeal, manipulate our way out of a situation without even asking, “How did I get here and what am I doing here?”
Why does God send folks into exile? Often we don’t know why. OK. So we can say that He sent some into exile because of their hardness of heart or their rebellion. But can we say that about Daniel? Ezekiel? John? We may never know why we were sent, but we can know what to do while we are in exile because it is delineated in Scripture. We are told to make gardens, live in houses, get married, and be productive. We are to flourish in that land to which we were sent as exiles. We are to seek the welfare of that place to which we are saved. That can look like this: ‘do you best on the job;’ ‘be a willing participant in the community;’ ‘get involved in politics and make a difference;’ ‘be a light in the darkness;’ ‘initiate needed programs;’ ‘improve the surroundings.’ Depending on our circumstances our ‘productivity’ will vary. But one thing is the same. When we are sent into exile we’re not to lie on the cot and moan for former days. We’re not to look at old photos and weep. We’re not to bang on the bars and say ‘let me out’. NO! We are to do everything in our power to make that place to which we have been sent a place that is much better than it was before we came.
We are also told what to guard against in that place of exile. We are told not to buy into their deception. We’re to keep our heads clear, keep the Word utmost, foremost, front, and center so that we remember where we really belong and that our home is heaven and that we are kingdom people.
It’s not only THEM who can deceive us. The Lord says, “Don’t let YOUR prophets and YOUR diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams that THEY dream for it is a lie that THEY are prophesying to you in My name; I did not send them.” Jer 29:8,9 (ESV) The prophets in Jeremiah 29 were saying ‘Don’t worry. You’ll get out of here soon. It’s not God’s plan for you.’ God said, “That is not me speaking and don’t believe them!” (my interpretation)
I didn’t put it into these words but when I was teaching for TWELVE YEARS at Riverview High School I’d think, “What am I doing here and will I EVER GET OUT OF HERE?” Then one day I heard a message that snapped my neck up straight similar to the neck-snapping I got this morning reading Jeremiah 29.
I was in church at St. Louis Christian Center and the message was given by the (then) first lady Loretta Harvey. She said , “If you are ministering somewhere, you have to LOVE the place you are ministering and you have to LOVE the people to whom you are ministering.” At R______ High School the morale was SO BAD that I cried after work every day for ten years. The administration was not at all supportive; the teachers were cliquey, and the students hit each other in the faces with locks. I HATED the place and I hated the people. (I never SAID that and I didn’t THINK that, but compared to LOVING IT, I hated it!) If someone asked me how my job was I’d go into the long horror story of the week. I continually said things like, “These students don’t want to learn! They are lazy. They won’t keep their heads up off their desk. They want to run the halls. It’s a good day when ____ is absent. Loretta said those words in ONE INSTANT my entire mindset changed. I was SENT to R_______ High School. I was MINISTERING to those students. I WOULD love R________ High School and I WOULD love those students. And I did! And I do. All it took was one sentence of truth for me to turn my thinking right side out. I had been SENT into exile. I was to be productive. I was to leave it better than I came. I was to love the students, the faculty, the administration. I said I cried every day for ten years. Those words chased out all the lies and the crooning of the false prophets who said, “You need to be someplace else! Get out of there! There are hundreds of places who deserve you! R________ doesn’t deserve you!” Oh I’d bought into it and believed it. But for the next two years I said on the way to work, “Jesus Christ in me is going to R_______ High School today! My students are great learners, excited about education and do their best.” EVERYTHING CHANGED.
Then SUDDENLY the Lord made it clear that my time was up. I was released and sent to a fabulous school! God’s time. God’s plan. God’s exile. God’s assignment. God’s orders. God’s release.
Where is your exile? What are your orders? How is your productivity there? You’re in great company. God’s sends His best and His brightest into exile.
