Delivered for a purpose

In my previous post on Puppy Dogs and Rainbows, I closed with this verse:

The LORD said, "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress." (Jeremiah 15:11, NIV)

Even in times of difficult circumstances, God has a plan. He is always at work around us, using people and circumstances to accomplish His purpose in the world and in us.

He will deliver us from these difficulties for purposes we cannot understand and may never understand this side of Heaven. All we can do is have faith and trust in Almighty God that His will, will be accomplished.

While we go through our trial, we need to bloom where we have been planted. God wants us to grow and mature in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.

Take for example all the officials from Judah that God sent into exile in Babylon. God had the prophet Jeremiah write a letter to them to encourage them to settle into their captivity and prosper while they waited for God's deliverance.

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon... It said:

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper..."

This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." (Jeremiah 29: 1-14)

Hang on during the trial. Have faith in His good purpose. Pray for growth and prosperity as you go through your time of difficulty. Deliverance will come.