Jeremiah 29:4-7 -- On Painful Truth and Pleasant Lies

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace."
Jeremiah 29:4-7


This is an interesting selection because it is a prophecy that the people didn't want to hear. They wanted to be delivered from their captivity immediately, rather than in the 70 years that the Lord told them the captivity would last. God tells them in verses 10-11 that he will deliver them to their "expected end," but ... not yet. And of course there were people who wanted to believe in their own way badly enough that they went on to falsely prophesy and tell the people what they wanted to hear, rather than what the Lord had to say on the matter. I imagine none of us would want to quietly accept being dragged away from our homes and what we thought was our future either.

I think we get similarly frustrated in our own lives when the Lord's answer is "not yet," and that can be dangerous to us, because we are also going to be tempted to listen to voices that claim to be from God that tell us what we *want* to hear, rather than what God actually has to say to us. It is important that we actually listen to God and what he has to say through his prophet, rather than getting distracted by other voices that tell us pleasant lies.

Today, let's trust in God even when he is giving us an answer that we don't necessarily like. Let's listen to the prophet and not anyone who is trying to be an authority in his stead and telling us something that we would prefer to believe. God's truth and timing are better for us, and for the world, even when our own timing might seem temporarily more pleasing, and God will indeed deliver us, in his own time and in his own way, if we are patient and faithful and refuse to be decieved.