Jeremiah 1:5, I sanctified you and ordained you as a prophet to the nations.

When we take this scripture in its proper context we see how strategically placed was Jeremiah in history. He was privy to the knowledge that as God’s covenant people had strayed so far away from the Lord , He was determined to shake up their whole lives.

We see Nebuchadnezzar invade Jerusalem and demolish the Temple and the houses in the city.

The people were carried off to a foreign land. Their whole way of life was changed and shaken up.

When we also consider that Jeremiah wrote a letter in chapter 29 detailing the length of the Captivity of 70 years. Jeremiah relayed the fact that despite the drastic upheaval God’s purposes and dealings with them was for their long term and eternal good.

We must step back to see that despite God’s discipline on Israel He also was to humble the haughty nation of Babylon and pave the way for a King who would institute the rebuilding enshrined into Persian law.

The Israelites that went into the captivity were not those who came back. They had let go of idolatry and now had a heart for God.

We see that this paved the way for the Messiah.

Jeremiah was heartbroken to see this upheaval and pleaded in his prophesying and praying to avoid this situation.

We can relay this to our time. How far we can stray from the concepts of holiness and purity, and take on mindsets and lifestyles respectable in the world’s eyes yet be disobedient to His covenant .

Will it take an upheaval in our lives for God to bring us back to our “Zion”?

It need not be! However the Bible says that the human heart is most deceitful of all things.

Whatever happens the plan of God is for our good. But our concept of good is comfort in the short term and grief in eternity !

God purchased us with a high price and He will not have us throw away eternal rewards!

God has a plan in our humbling to prosper us as we understand His ways.

This must feature in our prayer life. We come away from asking to be relieved to understand the ways of God in our daily lives. Our prayers become a searching in the silence of the depths of God’s inner witness to discern His character and ways toward us.

Therefore Jeremiah not only prophesied the captivity but also was instrumental in the movement of nations that brought about the right conditions for the Messiah to come.

Our Messiah and Lord wishes to come into our generation. He wishes that we prayerfully let go of our own wisdom and stubbornness so that we prayerfully engage in moving, speaking and living as He desires!

A spiritual upheaval as we prayerfully wait for Him brings healing and salvation and preserves us blameless for eternity. Our prayers become the breath of the obedient , become the rain in the right season, become the sons delight to the Father.