We are living in a truly amazing time in human history. There are shifts happening around the world and in every sphere of society, and we seem to be moving from one major world event to another, almost without time to take our breath.
It does rather feel like we are standing on ground that is being shaken. That the whole earth is experiencing a seismic shift of some kind. So what is going on? And in particular, what is God doing in the midst of all this shaking? Is there something in God’s Word that can provide a window that would help us navigate these uncertain times? I believe there is.
Jeremiah’s time
Lately I’ve been drawn to the prophet Jeremiah. He lived through an extremely difficult time in Jewish history. God’s people were moving so far away from their calling that if something drastic was not done, they would no longer be recognisable as belonging to God.
Remember that God had called the Jewish people in order bless all nations (Genesis 12:2-3). They were set apart to be God’s holy people (Exodus 19:4-6). They belonged to Him, but by Jeremiah’s time, they were no longer living up to this incredible calling.
In God’s great mercy and grace, He stopped their downward trajectory, causing the Babylonians to invade Judah and the surrounding nations. The resulting devastation was total, and the experience was horrific. The bulk of the remaining people were forced into exile in Babylon for 70 years.
Jeremiah’s task
Jeremiah’s unenviable task was to warn the nation that this was about to happen. He was to tell them what God was doing and also inform them how they ought to respond to God throughout this time of upheaval. This is what God told Jeremiah when he called him as a prophet:
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Jeremiah 1:9-10 (NIV)
In order for God’s people to complete the call of God on the nation, some things had to be uprooted, torn down, destroyed and overthrown. Other things had to be built and planted. This was the overarching picture of what God was doing in Jeremiah’s time.
What is God doing today?
While I’m not in any way suggesting that we have moved away from our calling as God’s people (as the Jews of Jeremiah’s time had done), there are a couple of important lessons that come out of Jeremiah’s experience.
Firstly, we see that God is not averse to making us uncomfortable in order to move us forward in His plans. In Jeremiah’s day, no-one could believe that God would ever permit them to be taken from the land that God Himself had promised them. It made no sense to them that God could ever permit the temple, the place of His dwelling, to be to be utterly destroyed. It was simply beyond human comprehension. Yet this is what God did.
Who would have believed God would allow church services to be shut down across the world as they have been over the last couple of years? It’s almost inconceivable that this worldwide shutdown could ever happen in our day. And as a result, we have had to rethink what it means to be the church. We have also had to re-evaluate what is most important in our personal lives. Have you ever wondered if God may have been endeavouring to get our attention in a new way through this?
Secondly, could it be that some things need to be uprooted, torn down, destroyed or overthrown? This could be in our personal lives – in the way we think and behave. And maybe even in our corporate worship – in order for new things to be built and planted by God. The current environment has given us a unique opportunity to make some adjustments and allow God to reshape us.
God is good
The most amazing thing was that God also provided a haven for the Jews in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:1-14). Incredibly, Babylon was the place that would change their trajectory. They got rid of their idolatry and it was never an issue for them again. They re-established God’s order and rebuild their lives around God’s Word. But God had to take them out of the land and away from their “normal” lives and lifestyle in order for them to change.
The whole reason for the devastation and upheaval was because God is good and He had an overall plan in mind to bring about good in the nation.
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good 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.”
Jeremiah 29:10-11 (NIV)
Remember that God’s plans for us are always good. There is a future beyond devastation and ruin, and it is glorious!
The challenge of change
Jeremiah’s word challenges us to stop and ask God what He wants to change in our lives. But the thing is that just as in Jeremiah’s time, this is a time of major upheavals and new directions. God is actually wanting to root out and destroy what He did not plant in the first place. And that can be deeply impacting and take us a while to come to grips with.
It might be a friendship or relationship that is out of order, but we really want to hang on to. It might be a job or a business that we enjoy and is financially secure, but God wants us to move in another direction. It could be an unhealthy attachment of some kind – to material possessions, to a location, or to a person. Or it could be something in our inner world, our thoughts and attitudes, that needs to be uprooted and changed.
So is there anything that needs to be uprooted, torn down, destroyed or overthrown? Remember that God’s plans are good. He uproots these things in order to build and plant. This is our opportunity to be re-established, just as the Jews were during their time in Babylon. It’s time to get ready for what God is about to do. It will be glorious!
