In exile,
Here in Babylon,
People speak in a different tongue--
They talk differently.
People dress in a different way--
They walk differently.
But I must obey God.
As He told Jeremiah,
To relay to His people, O Israel,
“Build a home,
Plant a garden,
Marry and beget
Sons and daughters
To marry and beget,
So that you may thrive,
Not just survive,
But thrive.
I have it planned out properly,
Plans for your growth,
Plans for your success,
Plans for a future.”
For 70 years
He left us to stay in Babylon,
To settle in that strange land.
And as promised,
We survived--
Nay, even grew--
Thrived.
God knew what He was doing.
And 70 years later--
To the day,
Not one day sooner nor one day later
He led us back, O Israel.
Here I am, Lord.
I’m listening, all ears,
To hear of the adventure You have planned,
Even if it is just a surviving--
Sometimes this divorce
Feels like an exile--
A leaving behind of things known
To walk slowly,
To go boldly
Into the unknown…
The unknown.
But the unknown is always known to God.
At least here,
I have a space,
A space to survive--
And even to grow--
To thrive.
God knows what He is doing.
To hear Your voice
In the space between the words,
In the space between the words.
That is worth exile, Lord--
Just to hear Your voice--
Just to hear Your voice.
The Message, Solo Women’s Devotional, Day 58—Eugene Peterson
Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10-11 [NIV]
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 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. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
...
10 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. 11 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."