In All Times and In All Places

Scripture Verse that Caught my attention today: Jeremiah 29:7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Observation: Through the prophet Jeremiah God told the exiles to make a home where they had been sent and to care for the place where they had been sent, rather than to despise the place and always be making plans for their return home.

Application: The old adage “grow where you’re planted” comes to mind. Or, in the case of the above, “grow where you have been transplanted.”

It’s easy in life to be in a perpetual state of wishing we were somewhere else doing something else with someone else. But that is hardly the life to which we were called and it is even a mockery of sorts toward the gifts we have been given.

True, few things in life are forever. Yet even in temporary and less-than-ideal circumstances there is good work to be done. The exiles were to be in exile for seventy years. That’s too much time to be lollygagging around in a self-pity party. Better to suck it up and start making a positive difference in the place where they had been taken. It’s what Joseph did so many years before when he was in prison (Genesis 37ff). And, ironically, it’s what Jesus himself did during his time or earth!

Whether or not we are currently where we wish to be, there is still good work to be done. In fact, the prophet told the exiles that they would found their well-being though the city’s well-being. Maybe that's why, in the Lutheran Communion liturgy, the pastor says that we should "in all times and in all places we give thanks" to God.

May we joyfully go about the work before us from now until we reach our final resting place…on earth and in heaven.

Prayer: Lord, in all circumstances and in all places you offer opportunities to be of service to you. Help us to always realize such things and to joyfully embrace them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.