Exile

We all have our times of feeling in exile. This morning I was reading in Jeremiah 29 as he writes a letter to those in exile in Babylon these words from the Lord. He tells them to build houses, to marry, to make a home there. He warns them not to listen to diviners and false prophets giving them lies and false hope. Because they are not to put their hope in returning to Jerusalem, but rather in the Lord. 29:11-14 "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back from captivity I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.'" I've been learning this last month to put my hope in the Lord, not in my plans for Paris, or in the timing of them. I know that the Lord has plans for me, he will bring me fully out of my "exile." But he is doing amazing things while I've been in this stage. He's restoring me, as he restored Judah during and after their exile. He is teaching me and growing me. He has surrounded me by the most amazing support system and group of friends. He has plans and purpose in all of it. I want to find him, and to do so I must seek him with my whole heart. Yes, my plans for Paris are good, and they are to glorify God, but they are not what I have to look forward to. I am looking forward to and pressing on to the goal, I am seeking the Lord and doing whatever work he has for me. If he has me here another year, or 10, or only a few more months, there is everyday opportunities to further his kingdom and to do his will. There is perfection in his timing. He will bring us out of captivity, but in his perfect timing and his perfect way!