The Babylon Blessing

[Shaunta Spates]

Scripture: Jeremiah 42:1-17 (NLT)

Life can become so overwhelming at times that we end up losing ourselves. Regularly we are required to give a piece of ourselves to
work, a piece of ourselves to school, a piece of ourselves to family,
and a piece of ourselves to all these other relationships and activities
that by the end of it all we are left no longer feeling whole; like we
are only a small portion of what we used to be. Then, unexpectedly, we
lose our jobs, or we lose a loved one, or gas is now $12.00 a gallon and
we can no longer afford to drive to our $10.00 an hour job. It seems
like the walls are crumbling right before your eyes. It may have been
easier to deal with if you were still feeling whole, and complete like
you used to but now your body's in one place, your spirit is in another,
and your emotions are all over the place. You are surrounded by
confusion, this is where this passage of scripture begins.

After King Nebuchadnezzar has besieged Jerusalem a remnant,or a small portion, of the tribe of Judah were sent to exile in Babylon, or confusion. So
this once powerful tribe has been broken down and brought to a place of
confusion, i know someone can relate to that. Here in Babylon they
approach Jeremiah the prophet and ask him to pray that God will show
them what to do and where to go. After he prays 10 days later the Lord
gives his reply. 10 days later, 10 days later.... The 10 implies
completeness of order, nothing lacking. It signifies that the cycle is
complete and everything is in proper order. There are 10 commandments,
and there are also 10 generations from Adam to Noah. As it relates to
this scripture it was 10 days before God gave his reply to Jeremiah's
prayer. So in ten days God was completing their cycle of chaos and
putting things in order, and also God starts to offer his grace. 5 is
the of grace and when you multiply the 5 by the 2 it equals 10, so not
only is God offering his grace but a double portion of it.

The Lord replies " stay here in this land, if you do I will build you up and not tear you down, I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am
sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you." You
may be surrounded by confusion right now, but, its in the middle of that
confusion that God said he would restore you and manifest his favor.
Sometimes God will keep us in our Babylon to build our character and
strengthen us. Romans 5:3-4 (NLT) says "we can rejoice too when we run
into problems and trials for we know that they help us develop
endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character
strengthens our confident hope of salvation. Now is the time to stop
relying on yourself and begin to rely only on God. But sometimes we're
so determined to get away from the confusion so we decide to do things
our way and disobey God, that's the exact place that trouble shows up. In
verse 13 it says "but if you refuse to obey the Lord your God and if
you say we will not stay here; instead we will go to Egypt where we
will be free from war, the call to arms and hunger then hear the Lords
message to the remnant of Judah. If you are determined to go to Egypt
and live there the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you and
you will die there." It goes on to say " none of you will escape
the disaster I will bring upon you." So if I disobey God and flee
Babylon or confusion then the very thing I'm running from is the exact
thing that I'll run into? But if I'm obedient and stay in
Babylon/confusion then God will restore me. So my blessing is in
Babylon...

Okay, I got it, but there is still something that confuses me a question if i had the opportunity I would have liked to ask the tribe of Judah. What is the purpose of praying if
when God gives you the answer you do your own thing anyway? Prayer is
supposed to be the opportunity to bring our will into line with Gods
will. They even say towards the end of verse 6 "if we obey him
everything will turn out well for us." So they already know the
deal, pray, listen, do. To receive what it is your trusting God for it
takes more than just prayer; you have to follow that prayer up with
obedience. For example, your praying to God "Lord please help me to lose
this weight" and the Lord tells you if you eat healthier and exercise
he'll do the rest. Then why after you get out of your prayer closet
would you go eat a box of twinkies and sit on the couch talking about "I
know the Lord will make a way?" God has already made that way, but its
your obedience that is going to yield the results. Obedience people,
obedience, obedience, obedience. When your obedient your in God's will,
when your in God's will you receive God's promises. God is not a man
that He shall lie, so don't worry. God will do exactly what he said he
would do. Right now you may be surrounded by confusion, but, I dare you
to stay right where you are, trust God, and receive that Babylon
blessing.

[Camille Gerrald]

Wow "I love it"so on point,thanks for sharing.

[Elder Natrina "LadyRev" Lee]

AWESOME!!!..... Very well written and presented also Biblically sound!... I am so proud of YOU!... Keep on Writing!
LadyRev