Unpack Your Bags
October 16 Jeremiah 28:1-29:32
Object Lessons That Demand Obedience
Unpack Your Bags
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord.”
(Jeremiah 29:11-14a)
Perhaps you have read, memorized, and loved this passage of scripture for a very long time. To many people it is a favorite life verse, but have you ever fully examined this verse in context?
Today, we are going to do just that…
When I showed up for Bible college I loved this verse too, but I lacked “the big picture” about much of anything. Truly! In fact, I would say that it would be an understatement to say that I was “ill-prepared” for college life.
Many set goals and visit lots of colleges and fill out information for grants and scholarships. How I even got to college is still a mystery to me today!
I loved my hometown, friends, and job. I was a lifeguard at a summer camp in the summer and life to me was a gigantic pool, a glass of iced tea, and fun days of meeting new people and skiing on the lake that surrounded the camp and pool there. I had zero goals beyond that. I went on a two-week backpacking trip to CA at a Christian ranch where I was challenged to give God the first chance with my life. So, the night before college started, I packed.
When I got to college, I didn’t unpack (for a very, very long time). I really wasn’t too sure at all that I was going to stay. (It was a ‘play it by ear thing, and I was a music major.)
One day a fellow music major and future friend of mine came into my room and realized that everything I had was still in suitcases. She actually put my underwear in the drawers and set me on the task of putting pictures on a board in my room.
Her kind words, message, and actions were, “Unpack Your Bags”.
Friends, it is excruciating to leave your homeland and be in an unfamiliar place, and that is exactly what this story is about today.
False prophets were speaking messages for God that He never gave. One of the false prophets, Hananiah, broke the yoke that Jeremiah was wearing which symbolized their need to surrender to their captivity. Two months later this false prophet was dead!
Speaking prophecies for God is dangerous since he holds life and death in His hands!
Other false prophets tried to have Jeremiah killed, but God controlled their fates as well.
Have you ever had someone speak a false prophecy over you?
My family has experienced that a few times and I was so afraid. I wonder how Jeremiah felt…
We had a man in our church that had actually raped a couple girls and confessed this information, but when it got time for him to go to court his family started death threats against some of us so that we wouldn’t testify. He drove a pizza delivery truck, and I lost all desire for pizza for quite some time…
I wish I had read Jeremiah’s story back then. I had this Hallmark perfect-ever-after view of life and I placed that verse right into my little happy package. “For I know the plans I have for you”... (Oh I bet they will be just ideal with a white picket fence, four kids, a pool in the back, lots of friends and parties, and a happy, happy church!)
Let’s take a peak at the end of the verse, “I will be found by you, says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” (29:14)
What proceeded this verse was the context that God’s people were going to be in captivity for seventy years… not TWO like the false prophets told them. But, with the seventy long years, t came the promise, “I will bring you home again.” (29:10)
Here is what God told them to do during this time that they were strangers in a strange land, “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Have grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” (29:5-7)
And P.S. “Don’t listen to the false prophets who are telling you to leave your bags packed because you’re going home soon”!
I have come to learn that being a kingdom person is really a delicate balance. My treasures are not to be buried here in this life with me holding onto them tightly. I am just “a passin’ through”.
In the meantime, I am supposed to plant, produce, pray, and bless the community in which I live while there is time, however long God says that is supposed to be.
After all, it is about “The plans that He has for me…”
Is it time for you to “Unpack Your Bags” spiritually, mentally, or physically and plant, produce, and pray for your area?
