Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land

^“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” Jeremiah 29: 4-5 (N.I.V.)

We treasure our health, wealth, relationships and homes. But disasters such as sickness, earthquakes, mudslides, plane crashes, wars, sacking, or relationship breakups can turn our world upside down to a place where we feel that recovery is impossible. In such “exile” we want to listen to those who comfort us and pray with us to regain our health and position. The painful truth however could be that we have a condition that we may have to live with for a long time; maybe for the rest of our lives. We need to create another “normal” in our lives; work hard for our livelihood as far as we are able, support, encourage and live with others in peace and most of all to keep on worshiping and giving Glory to God.

Daniel and his three friends and fellow deportees: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not give up on their lives and their faith and ended up holding high positions in the Babylonian government. God has promised that whatever he lets happen to his good people is for their good. “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.” Jeremiah 24:5-6 . Even when we are in Babylon, he is there with us to help us start a new life and fulfill a new purpose.

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“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.  Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.”  ~ Rabindranath Tagore

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