“These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and 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, declares the LORD.
“‘For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.’” [1]
Many of God’s people are afflicted with a spirit of restlessness. I am speaking of redeemed saints. I’m not speaking of church members who are self-deceived. These are people who know God has equipped them to serve where they are now. Yet, a spirit of discontent creates an attitude of restlessness in their soul; they are not content with where the Lord has placed them or they are displeased with what they assess to be the opportunities for service with which they have been presented. And their restlessness creates discontent, causing them to be less effective than they should be.
Perhaps these dear saints are convinced they are destined for greater things, and they think that the service they now provide is an insult to their perceived capabilities. Perhaps they are determined that they have been held back by circumstances, that they are intended for a greater service than what they are now providing. Thus, they have decided that their current place of service affords scant opportunity to fulfil their mission. Perhaps they honestly believe that the Lord has misjudged their abilities, and they are missing out on greater service for which they are better suited. Thus, they miss opportunities to serve the Lord even as their restless soul ensures they have no peace.
What I have just described is a common symptom witnessed among the professed people of God. They imagine that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. And that creates a severe problem among the Zion of our Lord in this day. The late Sam Shoemaker, an Episcopalian bishop, summed up the situation this way: “In the Great Commission the Lord has called us to be—like Peter—fishers of men. We’ve turned the commission around so that we have become merely keepers of the aquarium. Occasionally I take some fish out of your fishbowl and put them into mine, and you do the same with my bowl. But we’re all tending the same fish.” [2]
We Christians in this day late in the Church Age have taken to heart the admonition presented as a public service announcement throughout the decade of the fifties, “Attend the church of your choice.” We choose the church we attend based on whether the church makes demands of our time and our service, based on the quality of the music program—does it entertain us or make us feel good, based on the youth programme—it isn’t really important that few of those young people will participate in the life of the church after they reach sixteen years of age. We choose the church we will attend on everything except whether our presence is in the will of Him Whom we call “Lord.” Consequently, when another religious group makes a more appealing offer, we will quickly move to that group.
And matters don’t differ for those who we supposed are appointed to shepherd those congregations. How often have I attended a denominational meeting when one or more of the pastors present are pleading with the area minister or the associational missionary to find them a new pastorate—ideally one that doesn’t have the problems they are now facing! I’ve concluded after years of observation that too many of those occupying the sacred desk see their role as labouring at a job rather than serving according to the Master’s appointment. I am not describing some novel affliction occurring only in recent years; this is a condition that has afflicted worshippers of the Living God throughout the entirety of recorded history of the Faith.
The Lord GOD had sent His people into Babylonian bondage as punishment. As an aside of no little significance, God doesn’t discipline the devil’s kids. He does discipline His own children. Remember how we read in the Letter to Hebrew Christians, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.’
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live” [HEBREWS 12:1-9]?
Israel, in divine discipline, was precisely where God wanted them. The people were restless, because separation from their home, separation from the familiar was painful. They missed the situation that was promised if they were where they had begun this journey bringing them to utter dependence on the LORD. Studying their situation and the message delivered by God during their captivity can provide us with insight into how we should respond when we grow restless. They were restless because they were being disciplined; we grow restless because we are immature.
OUR SITUATION AS DISCIPLINE — Moving to a conclusion in the letter sent to the Judean exiles in Babylon, the Prophet of God delivers this promise to the people: “Thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” [JEREMIAH 29:10-14].
Did you notice that FOURTEENTH VERSE? The LORD promises, “I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you.” There can be no restoration if there has been no loss. And God had judged Judah for the sin of forsaking Him. The discipline experienced was to turn the people from their sin, returning them to fellowship with the LORD Who redeemed them.
I’m not suggesting that discipline is punishment—that may be the case, but it is not necessarily the situation. Once upon a time, many years ago, I was a United States Marine. The training I received during those brief days was rigorous. Some might say it was punishing. However, the training was intended to transform boys into men. The demands were designed to equip Marines to endure hardship that was sure to be encountered when those men entered the field of combat. The drill instructors were endeavouring to prepare those men to survive in hostile conditions they would face when they at last were called upon to bear arms against enemies of the state.
Christ’ servant will face hardship, and the hardship that one will endure is not because God is punishing His servant. Recall how the Apostle instructs the young theologue in the final missive the old saint will send. “My child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And entrust what you heard me say in the presence of many others as witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be competent to teach others as well. Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one in military service gets entangled in matters of everyday life; otherwise he will not please the one who recruited him” [2 TIMOTHY 2:1-4 NET BIBLE 2nd]. Hardship is not necessarily a sign of punishment. Accept hardship as discipline equipping you for eventual victory.
We don’t speak enough of the cost of serving Christ. Note that as the Apostle opens this letter to Timothy, he begins by urging the young servant to embrace the suffering that attends standing for righteousness. Paul instructs the young man, “I remind you to rekindle God’s gift that you possess through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner for his sake, but by God’s power accept your share of suffering for the gospel. He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel! For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day” [2 TIMOTHY 1:5-12 NET BIBLE 2nd]. Wow! “By God’s power accept your share of suffering for the gospel!” Surely that encompasses accepting that God has appointed you to serve in the place where you are now situated. Surely such instruction means that you are to accept hardship as discipline intended to equip you to fulfil the ministry God for which God has equipped you.
Looking again at what is written in the Letter to Hebrew Christians, you will note that the writer makes a distinction between discipline and punishment—they are not necessarily the same. In that passage, which was cited in the introduction to this message, we witnessed the writer testify, “You have forgotten the encouragement that is addressed to you as sons:
‘My son, do not think lightly of the Lord’s discipline
or give up when you are corrected by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he punishes every son he accepts.’
What you endure disciplines you: God is treating you as sons” [HEBREWS 12:5-7 ISV]. The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He punishes the one He accepts. To be certain, the punishment of a son whom the Lord accepts and which is administered by the Lord, is discipline. However, not every hardship is punishment; the Lord may design what is happening as discipline meant to inure you to hardship leading to eventual victory.
Later, in this same letter, Paul encourages Timothy, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction. For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths. You, however, be self-controlled in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry” [2 TIMOTHY 4:1-5 NET BIBLE 2nd]. The discipline you receive as you progress through life is equipping you to be self-controlled whatever you may face, to endure hardship that you are certain to face, and to enable you to fulfill your ministry.
We need to remember something of God’s character. God cannot lie. Opening his letter to Titus, Paul writes, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior…” [TITUS 1:1-3]. God cannot lie; therefore, if God makes a promise, He will do what He promises.
To the Jews addressed by Jeremiah’s letter, God promised a future. And history has witnessed the reality of God’s promise. The Apostle was standing on solid ground. Recall how God, speaking through Moses, testified,
“God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
[NUMBERS 23:19]
Has God promised to save you? He will do what He promised. Has He promised to use you in His service? He will do what He has promised. Has He promised to keep you in His grace? He will do what He has promised!
God cannot change; in the language of the theologian, God is immutable. Confronting Israel later in history, God spoke through the Prophet Malachi. The LORD opened His censure of the wayward people by pointing to His character: “I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” [MALACHI 3:6]. Had the LORD changed, Israel would have been destroyed; their conduct was that corrupt. The Psalmist pondered this aspect of God’s character, concluding,
“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.”
[PSALM 102:25-27]
God does not change. God assured the Jewish captives in Babylon, God said, “I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place” [JEREMIAH 29:10b]. If God has saved you for His glory, He will be glorified in you and you will share in that glory. God warns the wicked and comforts His redeemed people, promising, “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed” [2 THESSALONIANS 1:6-10].
There is this further aspect of God’s character that assured the people to whom Jeremiah wrote and that assures followers of Christ today: God cannot be surprised, because God is omniscient. God’s will cannot be thwarted because God knows all things. When God plots a course for the life of His child, He does not need a “Plan B.” You and I often imagine that we need to adapt to differing situations, but that is not the situation for the Lord.
Solomon, writing in Ecclesiastes, makes an observation concerning the Lord that may sometimes be overlooked. He writes, “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” [ECCLESIASTES 3:11]. We cannot know step-by-step where our path is leading, but God has ordered the steps of a man, guiding that one with His great hand to accomplish precisely what the Lord wills. Surely, this is the promise of God when we read the words of the Psalmist:
“The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand.”
[PSALM 37:23-24]
God determines the steps an individual takes when the LORD is pleased with that one. We must not allow ourselves to forget that God oversees the direction His child will take, and even the precise steps that one takes to reach the place to which God is guiding His child. What God determines will be—and His will is designed for His glory and for our good. We can be assured that the Lord will bring to fulfilment His will in your life if you are His child. He did so for the lives of those captives in Babylon, and you may be assured that He will do so for you.
“Remember this, so you can be brave.
Think about it, you rebels!
Remember what I accomplished in antiquity.
Truly I am God, I have no peer;
I am God, and there is none like me,
who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred;
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire.’”
[ISAIAH 46:8-10 NET BIBLE 2nd]
OUR SITUATION AS OPPORTUNITY — “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” [JEREMIAH 29:4-7].
Consider that your present situation is discipline—God is equipping you for service for Him in a place that may be more challenging still. Chuck Swindoll stated on several occasions, “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” He was absolutely correct! Consider also that your present situation is presenting opportunities that you may not yet have seized. Every Christian has faced or will shortly face a trial that challenges that follower of the Christ. Someone has said with incredible perception, “Every Christian is passing through a trial, has just come through a trial, or will soon enter into a trial. Did not our Lord say, “In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have conquered the world” [JOHN 16:33b NET BIBLE 2nd].
Later, the Apostle to the Gentiles would echo the Master’s warning as he cautioned new Christians. We read in the account of the first missionary journey, “When [the missionaries] had preached the gospel to [Derbe] and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” [ACTS 14:21-22].
I suppose that some might imagine that by speaking openly of the challenges we face as followers of the Risen Saviour, we discourage people from embracing the message of life. Such a view neglects the essential truth that the decision to follow Christ as Master of life is not simply an intellectual activity—the Spirit of God actively draws each saved individual to faith. This becomes evident when we read Paul’s testimony: “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” [TITUS 3:4-7].
Perceptive readers of the Bible will recognise that the Apostle is applying the words of the Master to the initial work of the Spirit of Christ in the life of the child of God. Jesus said, “When [the Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” [JOHN 16:8-11].
The work of God’s Spirit does not end with drawing people to faith; He continues working to reveal Christ in all His fullness. Jesus would continue teaching as He said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” [JOHN 16:13-14].
Recall how the Word describes the sins that exclude people from the Kingdom of God. These vile sins include sexual immorality, adultery, homosexuality, theft, greed, drunkenness, verbal abuse, and swindling. Then, the Word charges, “And such were some of you!” The Word of God hits hard exposing the morass in which once wallowed. God didn’t leave us in our sin, however; for after exposing what we were, Paul continues by noting, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:11]. I may not be all I want to be; but thanks be to God, I’m not what I once was.
Justified by the Spirit of God, I have been set free from the condemnation that once hung over me. Now, I am free to serve God. And the place I now occupy provides opportunities that await my seizing them. Israel was in captivity in a foreign land. What could they do there? How could they serve God when they didn’t have access to the familiar accoutrements that were necessary for worship in their homeland?
God instructed those who were then in Babylon to accept that they were where He had placed them. Thus, they were to live as residents of Babylon, seizing the opportunities presented to marry and raise families, to live with a view to the future, seeking the welfare of the place where they were. Though God had sent them into exile, they were not to dwell on their situation as punishment, but rather they were to live with a view toward the future. The Lord was still in control and they were to realise that His schedule did not exclude the future.
God is God of the now! From our perspective He has been God of the past, and we are confident He will be God in the future. Because God dwells in eternity, He rules over the future, just as He is ruling over the present. I serve God now, but my service is always conducted while I am looking to the future. I live in the hope of the resurrection [see ACTS 23:6], but my even greater hope is the imminent return of Christ the Lord. Thus, I endeavour to live according to the condition the Apostle described when he testified, “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” [PHILIPPIANS 1:20-21].
I encourage myself often with the promise of Christ’s return. I eagerly accept the encouragement offered in the words that the Apostle has penned, in which we are promised, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18].
Until that day at last arrives, I am learning to apply the Apostle’s view of service, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” [PHILIPPIANS 4:12-13].
I encourage each one who hears me to understand that the situation in which he or she now finds himself or herself can be viewed as discipline—God preparing you for what lies yet in the future. I also encourage you to see your present situation as presenting opportunities to do great things even as you look to the future. Wherever you find yourself, God is prepared to permit you to do some great thing where you are. I encourage each follower of the Risen Lord of Glory to pray, even in this hour, asking that God will permit you to do one great thing where you are. Don’t become so focused on what might have been, or so focused on what could be, that you fail to see the opportunity before you at this moment.
OUR SITUATION FOR GOD’S GLORY — “Thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” [JEREMIAH 29:10-14].
I’ve said in past sermons that God is not a junk dealer. If He redeemed you, you are precious in His sight. Among the Psalms is a Psalm penned by Solomon. It is a prayer that leads to confession of God’s character. The Psalm goes like this:
“God, give your justice to the king
and your righteousness to the king’s son.
He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice.
May the mountains bring well-being to the people
and the hills, righteousness.
May he vindicate the afflicted among the people,
help the poor,
and crush the oppressor.”
[PSALM 72:1-4]
Eventually, the prayer leads to this plea, with a glorious encouragement included.
“Let all kings bow in homage to him,
all nations serve him.
For he will rescue the poor who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.
He will have pity on the poor and helpless
and save the lives of the poor.
He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are precious in his sight.”
[PSALM 72:11-14]
The lives of those whom the LORD rescues are precious. The lives of those whom the LORD has redeemed are precious. Just so, you, if you have been redeemed by grace, are precious in the eyes of the LORD. God sees you as precious, not least because the precious blood of Jesus His Son was poured out for you.
Because God sees you as precious, He will be glorified in you. He is glorified when you serve Him, accepting His guidance of your life. God promises that in the future, the people of Israel will be revealed to be a product of His labour, and that through the people of Israel He will reveal His splendour [see ISAIAH 60:21 NET BIBLE 2nd].
In our text, the Lord admonishes the captives to settle down where He has placed them because His plans include blessing them in His time. They must learn to trust Him, seeking Him in prayer because they know He hears them, seeking Him because He cares for them. They are not to cry out in terror not knowing whether He will deliver them, but they are to learn to trust Him, and learn to wait patiently for Him to act.
Preceding this chapter, God had spoken to the Prophet to tell the captives that He was watching over them to bless them. Though disciplined, they would yet glorify Him. In an earlier chapter, we read, “After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. And the LORD said to me, ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ I said, ‘Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.’
“Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart” [JEREMIAH 24:1-7]. In the text, we see God iterating the promise to watch over His people, provided they learn to wait patiently on Him. Their situation, indeed harsh, would ultimately bring glory to the LORD.
What is startling about this divine pronouncement is what was said about those left in Jerusalem. Superficially, those left behind were blessed, while those who had gone into captivity were condemned. God had quite a different view. Jeremiah continued by delivering the LORD’s view of those who had not gone into captivity. God’s Word continues, “Thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers” [JEREMIAH 24:8-10].
Those who accepted God’s rule were promised that their patience in submitting to Him would result in His glory. Those who pursued their own reign would not see His glory. The situation is not so terribly different in this day. That individual who looks at his or her situation as discipline can know that they are being prepared for greater challenges. God is not wasting the conditions in which His child finds herself or himself. Rather, He is always at work for the good of His child and for His glory.
Again, that individual who rests in Christ’s leadership will inevitably discover opportunities to accomplish great things where he or she is. Where are you right now? Are there no lost souls you can touch where you are? Is there not one you can encourage for Christ’s sake now? Is there not some child of God who would benefit from the investment of your life into her or him now? Opportunities abound if we look for them.
The prospect of God’s glory looms large before us when we settle down where He has placed us. I refer to the passage frequently, and it has great meaning for me. I anticipate that day when Christ shall return, and I, together with all the redeemed, will be gathered to Him. We will then share in His glory, just as the Apostle has written, “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” [2 THESSALONIANS 1:6-12].
Stay steady, saint. Christ is coming to be glorified in you. I am praying that the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you, because you dared believe. And what did you believe? You believed that Christ died because of you and believed that He was raised for your justification, just as it is written: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation” [ROMANS 10:9-10 NET BIBLE 2nd].
God has promised, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. Assuredly, this promise includes you. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Em Griffin, The Mindchangers (Tyndale House, 1976), p. 151, cited in Bible.org, Keepers of the Aquarium | Bible.org, accessed 31 July 2025
