I’ve Got Good News and Bad News. Jeremiah 29:5-14.

Posted bySteven WalesPosted inWhen God Says No, Be Thankful, You Praise God Best When Life is at its WorstTags:, , , , , ,

The bad news is, you have not received your number-one wish.  Most people have not.  Some wishes will not be fulfilled. All you can do is accept it and keep trusting the Lord. 

The Israelites were in trouble.  God punished their continued idolatry by sending the nation into bondage. 

Jeremiah’s message went like this: The bad news is, you’re not going to get your number-one wish: staying put. God is sending the entire nation into bondage. You will move 700 miles from Jerusalem to Babylon. Not only that, you will remain in Babylon for 70 years. Most of you will never see Jerusalem again.

The good news is, God will take care of you. You may lose Jerusalem, but life goes on. And you will learn something from being banished: you will never again be so easily led into idol worship.

Have you ever felt trapped in Babylon? You’re stuck in a low-paying job, for example, with an unreliable car and no way to improve the situation. Or your student loan debts are crushing your future. Or you’re lonely, unmarried, or unable to have children. What can you do? Sometimes the message God has for us is to accept our disappointment.

ACCEPT IT.

Accept life in Babylon and be thankful for all the good things He gives while you endure the bad.  Look at all the things the Israelites had to be thankful for while in Babylon:

“Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters … Multiply there; do not decrease … When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will … restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope … You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart … I will restore your fortunes … and restore you to the place from which I deported you” Jeremiah 29:5-14.

There was bad news from the Lord—a prayer to which He answered ‘No’—but there was good news too. 

Let’s COUNT THOSE BLESSINGS:

1)Houses,

2)gardens,

3)wives, sons, and daughters,

4)your descendants will return to Jerusalem,

5)God has good plans,

6)God promises a future and a hope,

7)you will find God when you seek Him wholeheartedly,

8)He will restore your fortunes and your homes.

God, help us to accept the difficult things You allow in our lives, and remind us to count our blessings every day.

ΑΩ

Published by Steven Wales

Dad's Daily Devotional began as text messages to my family. I wanted my teenagers to know their father was reading the Bible. But they were at school by then. Initially, I sent them a favorite verse or an insight based on what I read each day. That grew into drafting a devotional readng which I would send them via text. I work as an attorney and an adjunct professor, and recently wrote a book called HOW TO MAKE A'S.

Leave a comment