A couple of weeks ago, God had both John and I study the same event within days of each other. What was most interesting about this was the fact that we were both teaching in a 24 hour period. We both studied about the Jews being placed in Babylonian exile. John happened to be teaching in Jeremiah and seeking God’s will. The next evening, I was teaching on waiting on the Lord out of Isaiah and focusing on how the Jews ended up in exile and the call to humility.
Exile. What does that word mean? The word conjures up images of a evil leader being sentenced on a desert island forever separated from the people and country that he demonized. Exile is defined as “the state or a period of forced absence from one’s country or home”. It is characterized by the fact that it is forced. It is not an idea or suggestion. It is done to you or maybe you have done something to deserve it. The story of the Israelites in exile is not just a history lesson. What happened to God’s chosen people happens to this chosen, saved gal. I have experienced a time of spiritual exile before. I have been in a place where I begged God to move me out of the “foreign land” I was in and take me to a new one or better yet the “promised one”. Was it self-imposed exile? Maybe. Had I been disobedient? I am sure I have at times. However, I believe there other times in our lives where God says “I put you here for a reason. You may not like it but it is my plan.” He is soveriegn and we are to be obedient. That’s it. We are to trust God and do what His Word tells us to do, being faithful to seek Him and follow the call He has placed on our lives as believers. I can either submit to the great God of the universe and let Him work in me, teaching me or I can kick and scream and learn it the hard way. Either way, He is God and He will accomplish His plan. I can either join Him in it or extend the lesson because He has to remind me who I am dealing with.
Even though I don’t like the whole idea of exile, I have to know there is always a loving God there with me. I am not alone.
Passages to read: Jer. 29:4-14, Isaiah 40: 1-8
kristiharrington
