Jeremiah 29:10-14 (ESV)
10 “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. 11 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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 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.”
The above passage is one of those passages that is often quoted by believers who are looking for comforting, positive, prosperous promises. Indeed, it is all of that. However, there is a context to the passage that many do not remember as they joyfully quote verses 11 and 13.
Remember that Judah had sinned against God. They had rebelled against him and were rightly exiled to Babylon. The above verses are God’s promise to restore the people to their land after their captivity and their repentance. So, yes, God promises them good, but the good that God promised them comes after 70 years of exile and after their humbling themselves in light of their former sin.
Can we apply these verses in modern Christian life? Of course we can. However, they are not blank checks of prosperity to be claimed. As some seem to think. Instead, they are reminders that God’s people, humbled under God’s grace, turning from sin and seeking his face, will receive his good. Even in hardship, if we seek God and turn from sin as his children, God will be kind to us, will pardon us, will give us himself, the ultimate good.
Remember, God is not interested in us seeking things other than him. If we seek good things that are not God, we dishonor God. When we seek God, he will grant us what we need. Thus, we need to remember that the promises of prosperity from God in Jeremiah 29 are promises of prosperity in him, not apart from him.
Christians, turn your eyes and your heart to the Lord who saved you. Trust that he has plans for you. Know, however, that those plans involve you turning from sin and knowing him more. Hunger and thirst for righteousness, and God will satisfy your hunger. Seek after the King of kings, and he will grant you what you seek. Seek prosperity apart from him, and you are bowing to an idol. Seek the Lord, and he will be found by you.
Pastor Travis Peterson 