For I know the plans I have for you...

So, this summer, I've been reading the book of Jeremiah... at the beginning of the summer, it just seemed fitting for my station in life. Now, I keep reading it, because the story that it tells is of a sinful people who time and time again don't get it. God punishes them. And God promises redemption. They spend a lot of time in exile... and then have a few "ah-ha" moments. Sound familiar? Regardless, this morning, my trekking took me to Jeremiah 28 and 29.

Jeremiah 29:11 was one of the few verses in Jeremiah that I was familiar with prior to reading it again this summer. Often we read Jeremiah 29:11 when times are changing, we're moving, or we're worried about the future. I don't know how many great graduation cards I received with this particular verse inscribed. Great verse! But we often fail to realize the full beauty of it, because we don't read it in context of the rest of the chapter. This morning, I was hit with the full context of the passage, and was honestly a bit blow away by it...

Context: Jeremiah is writing a letter to the exiles in Babylon. (Babylon= hedonistic capital of the ancient world) Some of them may have already been there for as long as 11 years. He's just told the people that only false prophets will be telling them that they're getting out soon. He tells them pretty bluntly that everything, down to the wild animals, will be in obedience to King Nebuchadnezzar... iron yoke. The letter follows a prophesying battle of epic proportions between happy-ending-soon-false-prophet-Hananiah and wearing-the-iron-yoke-prophet-of-truth-Jeremiah in chapter 28. Jeremiah = not the life of the party at the moment.

Furthermore, the story that Jeremiah tells in his letter is basically "Settle in for the long haul; you're going to be in exile for quite a long time." He tells them

• to build houses (takes a few months at least),
• to settle down (also a few months),
• to plant gardens and eat the fruits of the gardens (you plant in the early spring, and harvest in the late summer)
• to marry and be married (long term commitments)
• to find spouses for your kids (this assumes that they will grow to the age of marriage, while in captivity)
• to increase in number (babies stay in the oven for 9 months)
• to pray for the city that they're in, so that they together will prosper (in other words, you're staying for quite a while...)

And the kicker is verse 10, in which the Lord says "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place." Seventy years. God says wait. The average American life expectancy is about 75 years. God says wait. And then... and only then... we get to verse 11:

"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."

Yes, God does have plans to prosper us. To give us hope and a future. But what if, first, he calls us to wait? Is God the Lord of exile as well as Lord of the land of milk and honey? What if I were called to wait for 70 years for the promises which God has for me. I would be 93 years old. Would I still trust that he had plans to prosper me, to give me hope and a future?

God always answers prayers. Sometimes his answer is "yes"; sometimes it is "no"; and sometime it is "wait." He promises to bless us; to give us good gifts; and to prosper us. But sometimes, we get so caught up in the Burger-King mentality of "have it your way right now" that we miss God's blessings when they don't come immediately.

Yes, God is Lord of exile as well as Lord of promise. Even when the answer is wait, he is still answering. Even if it takes days, weeks, years. Do we believe that? Or do we read one verse, say one prayer, and sing one song, and then get angry at God for not providing our super-deluxe burger with fries order on the double?! God is not a drive-through burger-joint made-to-order cook. His promises are always perfectly timed. But they cannot be measured on our clocks.