While I was taking my end of year tour of rebellion several years ago, God very clearly spoke to me about that which I was rebelling against. I took the extended trip, not necessarily to visit all those that I visited or to see all those things which I saw, but it was more because I was seeking to avoid being where I didn’t want to be. I have prayed earnestly and sincerely that God would place me perfectly in the center of his will. There are times that I find the perfect, center of his will is not to my liking, it is not comfortable and it goes against my human nature so I have sought equally earnestly and equally sincerely that the perfect, center of God’s will would be somewhere else, doing something different. God hasn’t yet caved to my whining and raging but has shown me his will and gave me the choice to be in it or out of it.
In the final days of this long trip, as I was listening to the Bible on CD, I quite randomly put in Jeremiah 29. As I heard the first few verses, I was eagerly anticipating verse 11 because it is such a faith and confidence builder. But as the reader went on, God brought to my attention verses 4-14, specifically 4-7.
Jeremiah 29:4-14
4.Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon.
5.Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6.Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7.And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8.For thus saith the Lord of hosts, and the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9.For they prophecy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.
10.For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11.For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12.Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken to you.
13.And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14.And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
So many times we long to hear a sermon, words of encouragement, devotions telling us that God is going to set us free of the prison in which we find ourselves. We dig for scriptures that tell us that we are victorious, we have liberty and everything is going to be easier. But sometimes, it is perfectly in the center of God’s will for us to be led captive. Sometimes we must stay some places that are hard, uncomfortable, painful, frustrating, etc. because that is the place God called us to be. When we are in this place of captivity, we cry out with frustration because we do not see our talents being used, we feel cast aside, rejected, and our ministries seeming to go stagnant. Our flesh and perhaps our burning passion of our ministry calls out to God to set us free to be in a place where we can be utilized, someplace where our ministries can thrive and grow. But instead he tells us to stay in this frustrating prison and not just stay but to thrive and grow so that you will be “increased and not diminished.” Joseph was a perfect example of this. He was a much loved son of his father but that love and his God given dreams caused his brothers to hate him. Through each of the bouts of captivity and prisons in which Joseph found himself, he stayed true to God and he thrived and increased. Nowhere in the Bible do we read how he sat down in the dirt and lamented his prison or captivity and refused to do that which he was called to do in the moment. It was through this life of captivity, through the life of bondage, that he was able to save his family from sure death.
Do you find yourself in a place that your ministry is under-utilized? Do you find yourself in a prison where you are spiritually being undernourished? As much as you dislike where you are, do you know without a doubt that God has put you there? Then don’t give up. Ask God how you can increase and not diminish during this season of captivity. Ask God to show you what he would have you do during this time. Just hold on, after this season God will turn away your captivity and will hearken unto you when you call Him. It could be that through your frustrating season that your loved ones are saved or revived. It could be through this period of captivity that God is able to use you in ways He couldn't if you were elsewhere. So rejoice in your prison and pray for the peace of your city.
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