Mission Devotional Day 10
The welfare of the city where I have sent you
Mission Devotional Day 10
READ: Jeremiah 29:7
“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.”
It takes some imagination for the people to pray for their captors in Babylon, to pray for the welfare of this pagan city whose leaders are responsible for Judah’s exile. But that is what God calls them to do. Their obedience begins with the realization that their exile was God’s doing; He sent them. It is sometimes hard for God’s people to see how the Lord works through the nations and leaders who are hostile to them, but in this text, God assures his people that he is still at work despite their being in exile.
God has promised that he will take care of Judah and Israel. In Jeremiah 29:11 we read, “ ‘For surely I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.’ ” It will not come for seventy years, but in that day God will restore his people to their land.
So how shall they spend these years? It will come by seeking to be a blessing to those who are God’s instrument of judgment. It will come by seeking the welfare of the city where God has placed them. It will come by continuing to love and serve in God’s name those who do not respond as we think they ought to.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Sometimes we struggle to understand what God is doing and why he has placed us in certain circumstances. Can you think of a time when you looked back and were able to discern how God was working in ways that, at the time, you did not perceive?
If God is calling us to participate in his mission, does it make sense that wherever we are, God wants us to be a blessing to those around us?
In his Book of Acts, Luke tells the story of Paul and Silas being jailed in Philippi (Acts 16:16ff.). How does their care for the jailer reflect the spirit of what God is saying to the exiles in Babylon?
PRAYER
God, sometimes it feels as though we are in exile far from home. Please help me see how I can reflect your glory and grace right where I am rather than seeing my circumstances as a barrier to ministry with those around me. Amen.