Don't Let Me Mess It Up, Lord

​God reminded the Jews held captive in Babylon, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
God gave the captive Jews some specific things to do while waiting for their expected end:

•  They were to build houses, plant gardens, grow new families in order that they would increase and not diminish. (5-6)
• They were to pray for and live in peace in Babylon where they lived in captivity. (7)
• They were not to believe the prophets and diviners among them. (8-9)
• They were to believe that after seventy years at Babylon, God would return them to Jerusalem. (10)
• They were to know that those whom did not hearken to God’s words would be punished. (15-19)

We crave comfort and security.  We want to know for certain and feel established.  We struggle to obey God without a clear roadmap to follow.  Even then, we stray.  God allows us to experience difficult situations as a result of our straying but uses those situations to prepare us for a closer relationship with Him.  Just as God reminded the Jews of His love for them, His Word reminds us of His love for all humanity and His promise to be found by those who seek Him with their whole hearts (10-14).
God allowed the Jews to suffer the consequences of their choice to live apart from Him.  Their selfishness and pride caused them to either be driven from their homeland or to suffer famine in their once thriving, now land of hunger.  Regardless of the individual situations, there was always a corporate hope for God’s chosen people.  The Jews who suffered as a result of their sin could not revoke God’s promises for blessing or punishment.  God was still with them, guiding them.  It was their choice whether or not to abide in and obey God or further disregard Him and His commands.
Likewise, it is our choice to embrace or reject God’s guidance.  Either way, we will live with the direct and indirect results of our choices.  Our disobedience never erases God’s promises but keeps us from them, and oppositely, our obedience opens the door for us to experience God’s blessings as fully as He designed.
Some things to understand about the Babylonian Exile:

• God allowed the Jews to be carried away captive from their rich promised land to a foreign land to live as slaves after they disobeyed, dishonored, and disregarded Him and His Word.
• God instructed the Jews to live fully productive lives similar to how they would live in the promised land.
• God warned them to not let lies affect their thinking.
• They had a sentence to pay for their disobedience but were never cast away nor forgotten by God.
• They were to understand that God is just and that He never fails in His promises of blessings or punishment.

Some things to recognize in our own lives:     

• God allows us free choice and the consequences of our choices.
• God expects us to be productive for the bigger picture, not living for ourselves.
• God gives us opportunity to know Him and live in His everlasting peace.  He gives wisdom if we seek Him but allows us to be deceived by our own lusts if we choose to live apart from Him.
• We will live the consequences of our choices.
• God never forgets nor forsakes us.  We will always find Him when we seek Him with our whole hearts.

Dear Heavenly Father, help me to seek You with my whole heart.  I want to live Your way, not turning aside.  Thank you for continually beckoning me when I lose my way.  I know that Your plans concerning me are better than my own.  Help me daily trust and follow You in every situation and every decision I make.