Jeremiah 29.10-11 10 This
is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will
come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For
I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
The lesson in discipline is often in its prolonged presence
and pain. I watched some of the Olympics during the past two weeks and most of
the women’s triathlon on Saturday. The winner was an American woman named
Jorgensen from Wisconsin. As I watched the coverage of the event with its bio
of Jorgensen, I learned she had been preparing for the event for about four
years. Four years is a lot of pain, frustration, endurance, and discipline.
But the four years paid off because Jorgensen won the gold
medal handily.
When Judah fell to the Babylonians, God intended for them
to be captives for 70 years. It was to be seventy years of being gone from the
homeland God had given them, and seventy years of discipline. People would die
in captivity. Children would be born in captivity. Some would even be born and
die in captivity never knowing their heritage and homeland.
God said: When
seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill My good
promise to bring you back to this place… But those of you who survive will
have to endure My discipline.
Discipline is intended to bring about change. Seventy
years is doable, but the Lord’s love is enduring. Discipline is about learning
and change. Discipline must accomplish its work. Then…
When seventy years is completed there is the payoff.
Most of us, in difficult times, want to quote Jeremiah
29.11 all on its own. But 11 is preceded by 10 and 10 tells us that seventy
years of discipline must precede 11: the plans “to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future…” Discipline must come first.
If you ever wonder about the love and wisdom of God and
how much you mean to Him, consider your disciplines and what you’ve had to
endure. (PLEASE NOTE: I never suspect God to be capricious in His dispensing of
discipline – AND – I believe He only disciplines His own.) The magnitude of our
discipline reveals the magnitude of His love for us, and His plans for us. One
doesn’t leave out the other.
So, you and I should rejoice as we face what we’re facing
because the result of discipline is this: “For
I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” That seems to be
what God is up to… at least in my life.
Father in Heaven,
Your discipline reveals Your love for us, and faith in us – a faith that reveals Your
good intentions to all of Your people (including yours truly). May I learn to
rejoice in my trials and keep my eye focused on the prize: a hope and a future.
Thank You for Your work in me – do not stay Your hand – amen.
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