Have you ever made this statement: I cannot wait until…..? Here are some of the possibilities of how we might finish the sentence.
• I cannot wait until I am in a better job.
• I cannot wait until school is out.
• I cannot wait until I am finished with school.
• I cannot wait until I feel better.
• I cannot wait until I am out of debt.
• I cannot wait until I can get on top of my
attitude.
• I cannot wait until things get better at our
house.
What does God want us to do when we find ourselves in one of those “until then” situations? We find one of these situations in Jeremiah 29. Look at verse 1. “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"(NIV). These people were wondering, what do we do until this exile is over? God gave them an answer. These principles still apply to us today. Notice the four principles!
1. Until then, get God’s perspective on your situation. Notice verse 4 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon”. (NIV) Who carried the Israelite people into captivity? It was God! God put them in Babylon for a reason. This is a difficult truth to accept. God may have allowed you to be where you are today. This is one of the difficult aspects of believing in the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God means that God knows, allows or sends (even) the trials into our lives. Therefore, it is imperative that we get God’s perspective on our situation.
Illustration: In the book of Genesis we meet a character by the name of Joseph. Joseph was the 11th. child of Jacob. When he was a young man he had a dream that his brothers would someday be subservient to him. He had no more sense than to share his dream with his brothers. Needless to say, they were not thrilled with his dream. They were already jealous of him because he was the favorite son of their father. In their anger they kidnapped him and threw him into a deep pit while they pondered what they should do. During that time a group of slave traders happened by. One of the brothers suggested that they sell their younger brother as a slave to these traders. They decided to profit from their problem. They sold their younger brother to the slave traders. Joseph spent a number of years living as a slave in a foreign land. He prospered himself and gained authority in Egypt. Joseph became the king’s right hand man. Over the course of time a famine struck the Israelite people and Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt seeking food. Guess who they stand before, asking for food? You guessed it. They must get permission from Joseph, their younger brother. At this point Joseph had grown up and they did not recognize their brother. When he identifies himself to them, they are struck with fear. They were concerned for their safety. They were thinking Joseph would repay their actions with vengeance. In that crisis moment Joseph shares an important perspective of his situation. He says “do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” (Gen. 45:6; NIV) Joseph saw God’s hand, even in his adversity. Joseph saw God’s perspective.
Perspective is always important. A right perspective can ease our pain.
Illustration: It’s something like what Coach John McKay of USC said to his team after they had been humiliated 51-0 by Notre Dame. McKay came into the locker room and saw a group of beaten worn-out and thoroughly depressed young football players who were not accustomed to losing. He stood up on a bench and said, "Men, let’s keep this in perspective. There are 800 million Chinese who don’t even know this game was played." That’s what you call perspective.
(SOURCE: Steve Farrar, "Family Survival in the American Jungle," 1991, Multnomah Press, p. 40.)
Illustration: The death of Jesus on the cross is another example of divine perspective. His death seemed so useless. His death seemed so pointless. To his first followers his death seemed to be a defeat. But, from God’s perspective his death offered hope to mankind. From God’s perspective his death offered eternal life.
2. Until then, get productive where you are. Sometimes we blame our situation for our lack of service to God. It is easy to make excuses.
• I will serve God when I feel better.
• I will serve God when things get worked out
at home.
• I will serve God when things are better at
work.
• I will have a daily quiet time when I feel
better.
• I will share my faith when I am more
encouraged.
“The problem with excuses, though, is that they’re like armpits. Everyone’s got a couple and they usually stink.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Brian La Croix)
Look at what God told the people in our text. You will find this in verses 5-6. “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” (NIV). Instead of blaming their situation God wanted them to transform their situation.
Illustration: Dietrich Bonhoeffer is an example of a man who transformed his situation. He was a German theologian who was arrested by Hitler’s Gestapo in the house of his parents on April 5th, 1943. He wrote one of the classics of Christian literature, The Cost of Discipleship. While Bonhoeffer was in prison he changed the environment of the prison and got productive where he found himself. Listen to what someone said of him. “Bonhoeffer greatly inspired…all those who came in contact with him. He even inspired his guards with respect, some of whom became so much attached to him that they smuggled out of prison his papers and poems written there, and apologized to him for having to lock his door after the round in the courtyard.” (p. 17, The Cost of Discipleship)
3. Until then, do not listen to faithless people. Look at what God told these people. “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them, ‘declares the Lord.”(vs. 8-9 NIV). These false prophets were faithless people. They did not speak for God.
Illustration: We find an example of faithless people when Moses sent the twelve spies to check out the Promised Land. Twelve were sent out. They came back giving glowing reports of the Promised Land. They spoke of its fruit. They spoke of its prosperity. However, ten of the spies were negative. Only two of the spies were positive. If the two positive spies had listened to the majority report they would have been defeated as well.
Illustration: I have been using the devotional book, Voices of the Faithful, this year. It is written by foreign missionaries who tell stories of things they have experienced on the field. The June devotional thoughts are focused around persecution. These stories illustrate how faithless people can discourage those who want to obey God. The devotionals in the month of June tell story after story about believers who were persecuted and endured trials for their faith.
4. Until then, listen to God’s voice . “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.” (vs. 10-13 NIV)
There are two principles that come from these verse.
Principle: listen to God because he is more concerned with obedience than comfort. If God wanted these people to be comfortable he would never have allowed them to spend 70 years in Babylon. In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren shares a similar truth. He says “God’s ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development.” (p. 173) Sometimes God allows us to spend time in a desert to build character and to test our obedience.
When Jesus went to the cross he displayed perfect obedience to the will of God. Listen to what the Bible says about this principle. “Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, takig the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:6-8 NIV)
The second principle in these verses is: listen to God because he knows your situation. Look at verses 11-12. “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.” (NIV)
What is providence? Providence comes from the words, "Pro" which means "before;" and "Video" which means "to see." Therefore, providence means "to see before." This means that God sees beforehand and plans accordingly.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Dave McFadden)
Illustration: Last week there was an inspiring story in the Alabama Baptist (week of June 15th.; p. 15) about a young man named Daniel Ritchie. Daniel Ritchie was born without arms. The article said Daniel did not allow his disability to slow him down. On May 23rd. he graduated from Southeastern College in Wake Forest, NC with a 3.3 grade point average. Daniel was called into the ministry at the age of 16. Daniel said that when he accepted Jesus Christ, Jesus changed his life and helped him to gain confidence as a person. Daniel tells people God had a purpose in making him this way. Daniel says “If God has gotten me this far in my life no matter what you have to face—whether it be a family member dying of cancer, or a sick child, or tough financial times or whatever---even though things might not go as we would have planned, God is still sovereign and God is still Lord over that.” Daniel has been productive where he found himself and is not waiting "until then".
