God cares in the hard times
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11-14
These words were written to some people who had been through some really bad stuff. They had been defeated in battle after a long siege and were now captives in the foreign land of Babylon that had very little in common with where they were from. It would be fair to say that they felt abandoned and isolated, without friends and forgotten even by God. So the prophet Jeremiah sends a message from home to encourage them.
If you are familiar with the Torah or Old Testament, you probably know this passage and a bit of the context. But many are not familiar with the opening part of the letter, where they are instructed to seek the well-being of the place where God had caused them to dwell and to pray that it would be blessed, and that they should go on with their lives and families in a hostile and foreign place.
That is what came before the promises that the prophet sends. What we read above is the, “So what do we do now?”
This passage is one that applies to us today as well. Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) may feel as foreign as another country to you, where you feel abandoned or isolated. Whether it is the location, or perhaps the things that are going on around us: COVID mitigation and mandates, political and social divisions, economic uncertainty, family circumstances, or something else, you too are wondering what you did to get to experience all the challenges you are feeling.
God is listening, talk to him. Pray until something happens and then pray some more! That’s what previous generations have found helpful in the difficult times they faced. God knows what you are going through, and while some of the circumstances aren’t of his making, the plans that he has for you are for good, for a hope filled future. A World War I Chaplain Oswald Chambers wrote that, “Prayer means that we get ahold God, not the answer.”
Please join me in praying for the good of our community, YPG and for all of those who live and work here. Let’s pray for the good of our neighbors and co-workers, that we all would receive the good plans that God has for us, as individuals and as a community. We should pray for our leaders and those in positions of authority and influence to do what is righteous and just. And as we lift up the needs of those around us, may we get in touch with the God who cares for us as we care for others through prayer.