I guess this could be titled, “Bloom Where You’re Planted” but that’s on too many t-shirts, coffee cups and greeting cards. To be honest, it makes me roll my eyes. Oh, please. You know what else appears in all those places too? Jeremiah 29:11. Arguably one of the most popular Bible verses to take out of context and plop on some merchandise. 

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.

The prophet Jeremiah speaks these words of hope to God’s people after the utter destruction of Jerusalem. The Babylonian army captured and destroyed the holy city. Then the waves of deportation and forced migration began. Judeans were exiled from their homeland and forced to resettle in Babylon–a place where they were strangers. They did not know the culture nor the language. They were removed from their homes and communities, stripped of their roles and told what to do and where to work. Strangers, in a foreign land, with a lack of agency. 

Into this situation God sends a message to God’s people through Jeremiah. A message of realistic expectations–”When seventy years are completed” (Jeremiah 29:10). It’s going to be a while. Don’t place your hopes in a short timeline—only after 70 years will restoration come. How is this hopeful or helpful?--Not seeing it yet. 

God also provides practical steps for how to survive the exile. God says to build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and be nourished by the food they produce. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city in which you are exiled. (Jeremiah 29:5-7) In other words….bloom where you’re planted (damnit). 

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God is sending a message of how to move forward when you are not where you want to be. It’s a message of caution–do not give way to despair. Do not sit idle just waiting for divine intervention and deliverance back to where you want to be. Rather, build a new foundation and let fresh roots ground you and sustain you in a foreign land. Learn to live in this foreign place. What’s more— seek the peace of the city around you–for this is a way to continue to honor and serve God wherever you are. And remember–God has not abandoned you. God will bring restoration because God does give us a future with hope. It just may not be as fast as we want it to be. And it may not exactly look like we think it will look. 

So if you find yourself sitting in exile, wishing you were anywhere else but here, what might it look like to dig deep and find ways to thrive in the current situation? Where are you finding God’s provision? How can you be the light of Christ in the city around you? And what vision for the future is God giving you?