As I read Jeremiah 29, several things come to mind. Let’s start with the obvious – God is telling the nation of Israel that their current misery will not last. Rather that He will restore them as a nation, and that He still loves them and they are still His children. Now, onto the less obvious – God tells his people to be strong while they are in Babylon. This is the popular misconception about verse 11 in particular. Most people (especially non-Christians) read it and go, “See! God is benevolent and wants me to be happy above all else.” Now it is worth noting that God desires joy for you, but most read verse 11 and think that means material prospering rather than spiritual prospering. Most of all, based on this text (Jer 29:1-23) God desires for us to show His glory and the joy therein, even whilst we suffer.
I recently watched the movie Unbreakable. NOT Unbroken. Not the movie about the WWII veteran turned olympic track star. No I am talking about the sophomore outing of M. Night Shyamalan. At the beginning of the film, we meet David Dunn (played wonderfully by Bruce Willis). David is a security guard for a D1 football stadium. However, his life is clearly not going as he probably envisioned. As a youth he longed for purpose, and found it on the football field as a great athlete. We even learn that he won a Rookie of the Year award. However, now he and his wife are estranged and rapidly approaching divorce, and he is planning on moving from his home in Philadelphia where his son also lives, to New York all by himself. But when it seems that after intervenes, his train (on its way back from New York after a job interview) derails. He is the only survivor and he is totally unharmed. And now we have a movie. Without giving too much away, over the course of the movie, David realizes that his life could be made meaningful and we see him take steps to do so. So, at the end of the story, not much has changed for David on the outside. But on the inside, everything has changed for the better. From the outside looking in, David still lives with his wife Audrey and his son Joseph. He is still just a security guard, with a minor change. In fact, if anything his minor change in occupation has added more stress to his life. This is where the internal change comes into play, he now loves his wife and son, more than he ever has. He loves himself more than ever because he has received something that gives him purpose and passion.
For David in the film, that purpose is protecting people. His passion comes from his desire for justice. God offers us the same opportunity for purpose and joy. “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” God wants to be with us, and he desires to give us a drive and goal that nothing else can. That doesn’t mean that it will be easy. It doesn’t even mean that it will always seem to make sense. Jeremiah himself writes numerous times of how he weeps at/for Israel. We don’t always get to see the fruits of our labors (Heb. 11). But we wait for a reward not of this life, but another.
Sawyer Huelat 