Building in Babylon

There’s a story in the book of Jeremiah that we talk little about.  Yet, in it you will find one of the most well known verses in the Bible.  

Chapter 29 begins with the prophet writing a letter to the people of Jerusalem who had been captured and taken to Babylon.  I can only imagine what being exiled to a foreign land must feel like.  The changes in culture and language.  The loss of home and family and freedom.  

How scared they must have been.

I wonder at the excitement they must have felt when news of the letters arrival spread throughout their community.  I can actually feel the hope that must have coursed through their veins with the expectation of deliverance that was most certainly spelled out in the pages they now held.

Surely, this captivity was about to end!  Soon they would be set free from this bondage and back to the very thing they longed for… home!  

To life as it was... before.

I can imagine the scenarios that played through their minds as they began to open the letter.  Was there a secret plan in place?  Had Jeremiah come up with a way to help them escape?  Was he even now just outside those city gates preparing to set them free?

And how their hearts must have broken when they saw those first words, “This is what the Lord says.. ‘Build homes, and plan to stay.’”

Plan to stay?

No!! 

Just reading these words thousands of years later brings tears to my eyes.

Build homes? 

Here? 

In Babylon?

The letter goes on to encourage the exiled people to not only build homes but to plant gardens… get married… have children… and then have them marry!  

Wait.. what?

“We’re gonna be here that long?!?”

As Christians today, we focus so often on being set free from bondage.  And, yes, there are many bondages we should seek to be free from.

But we cannot deny that there are situations in our lives that we cannot change.  We cannot avoid. And we cannot escape.

Which begs the questions - what does your Babylon look like?

The death of a dream?  A marriage?  A loved one?

Loss of health? Home? Finances?  

Or can it be summed up by simply saying “COVID-19”?

Babylon is that place we land unwillingly and with no desire to stay.  And to open our minds to the idea of putting down roots and learning to live… no… even thrive in Babylon is offensive to our senses.

I shared this concept with a group of teens recently.  Many of them are living in the Babylon of broken homes.  It is not of their choosing - yet they have no other option.  Their current condition is based on the choices of others.  

And they must reap the consequences.

I challenged them to look even further into Jeremiah 29.  In verse 7, the people are told to “work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon.  Pray for it.  For its welfare will determine your welfare.”

What??

Pray for the peace and prosperity of my Babylon?

No!

I don’t want to live here!  

I. want. to. go. home.

Back to before.

Back to normal.

We can wail and scream and cry.  Search for a means of escape… ignore the obvious… and attack those around us.

But when you’re in Babylon… you’re in Babylon.

At the moment when their hearts couldn’t have sank deeper into their chests, hope appeared on the pages of that letter.

Yes, they were stuck in Babylon.  Yes, they were asked to accept their reality and learn to live with it.  

A hard ask. 

But then the Lord gave those beautiful words we love to claim without acknowledging those earlier sentences… He said, “I know the plans I have for you.  They are plans for good and not for disaster.  Plans to give you a hope and a future.”

He goes on to invite His people to search for Him wholeheartedly with the promise to end their captivity and restore their fortunes - but it wouldn’t happen for seventy years.  

Life had changed.  And it would never look the same for them again.

Sound familiar?

I asked earlier what your Babylon looks like.

How long have you been there?

How hard has it been?

Does the thought of staying offend your senses?

I get it.  I do.

And while your Babylon might look different than mine, I invite you to link arms and join me in praying for the peace and prosperity of our individual Babylons even as we shake the dust off our weary hearts and begin searching for ways to build a life inside our situations.

Take comfort in knowing that God knew where to find the exiled people - after all, the letter reached them even though they were far from home.  He knows where to find you as well.

When we stop searching for a way to escape Babylon, it is then we can pick up a hammer and begin building a new life inside the wrong side of the walls we so despise.

It may not be where you’d choose to be… but if that’s where you are, I hope you will find courage to rise up, build, plant roots and thrive - even in Babylon.

Rest

Life. It's a busy place.

Constant pressures, demands, need-to-do's and want-to-do's can drive a woman crazy.  Yet the message  I hear repeated over and over again has been "REST".

I hear it in on the radio, at church, at a women's conference... even in my quiet times alone with God.  Can I just be honest here?

It started getting on my nerves?

I don't have time to rest!

I'm not against resting.  But more times than not, I feel more like the proverbial woman who's lamp does not go out at night - and frankly, I'd be ready to pull the plug for a few hours of shut-eye.

Let me explain - though most mama's will completely understand.  I do sleep.  I do rest.  I even get approximately twenty-four minutes a little quiet time most evenings on the couch next to Tim before one of us goes slack-jawed and cross eyed in our attempt to stay awake, but I find it hard to feel at rest.

There is so. much. to. do!


And I can't make them it go away!  Four kids, twenty hens, one cow, couple of cats and a lazy ole' dog will produce more signs of life than seems possible.  Add that on top of numerous other projects and responsibilities and my days are packed full!

And I'm ok with that, but, well.. a break would be nice!  It just seems impossible.

Still, there it hung.  The constant reminder to rest?

This morning while running, I was tired.

Wanted to quit.

Wanted to die rest.

I was only halfway to my goal and quitting wasn't on my agenda.  I knew it was simply mind over matter.  Take another step.  Keep moving.  Don't quit. (Funny how a weedy ditch covered in dew can look more welcoming than a Sleep Number Bed... with clean sheets.)

Keeping my eyes on the road, I kept moving and a verse came to my mind.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee."  Isaiah 26:3.  

Peace.

Rest.

Ahhh.. and herein lies the secret!

I couldn't quit halfway through my run.  I hadn't reached my goal yet.  And though everything within me cried out for a break... I knew I couldn't stop.

That's motherhood... that's life!  (Don't get me wrong - every woman needs a break.. take one!  I'm speaking of motherhood/life as a whole - start to finish)

I realized that I could lie in a  hammock under the shade of palm trees for a week straight...

I could listen to the sounds of the ocean waves and sea gulls calling to one another overhead while waiting for a maid to deliver a luncheon of Strawberry Spinach salad and Black Tie Mousse Cake (and a slice of pizza cause I'm really just a simple country girl)...

I could be in the most peaceful place on earth, yet still not be at rest.

Why?

Because resting is birthed in the mind.

It is learning to focus on He Who gives strength, whispers peace, offers joy and envelops with love.

Deliberately turning away from the worries of

'Can I make it?'

'Am I strong enough?'

'What will happen?'

'What if I fail?'

'Will I ever get a break?'

To,

'You, oh Lord, are good!'

'You are my Rock!'

'In You, I find peace.'

'You are my strength!'

'You are worthy of all my praise!'

And later, as I sat on my front porch step, resting, breathing in the freshness of morning, I realized the difference focus had made.

I had felt stronger.  Ready to run again.  Renewed.  Encouraged.  Energized.

I had reached my goal with ease and it felt good!

Physical rest isn't always an option (at least, not the amount we'd like), but God keeps us steady on our feet when I shift our eyes towards Him.

He takes our burdens and replaces it with rest.

People with their minds set on you, 

you keep completely whole,

Steady on their feet,

because they keep at it and don't quit.

Depend on God and keep at it

because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.

Isaiah 26

"This is the time and place to rest,
   to give rest to the weary.
This is the place to lay down your burden." 

Isaiah 28

A Stormy Situation

It's dry.

Again.

A farmer's wife seems to always have the petition for rain on her prayer list, and today is no different.

I am reminded of the need each time I look at my van.

Wash me!

A thick layer of dust connects across each hill and valley of its exterior, separated only by the occasional handprint and imploring "wash me" memo written carefully by the hand of an unidentified child.

But, alas, there are baseball players to deliver, piano students to transport, and swimmers to take to the welcoming waters of Pawpaw's pool.  There are meals to bring to weary farmers, groceries to transfer home and bags of grain to hand over to the hungry cow waiting within the gaping doors of a big red barn.

I contemplated washing the ole girl today, but the billowing dust of the driveway informed me of the uselessness of it all.  Before sunset, my van would likely sport yet another garment of grime so instead I checked the sky, longing for a storm... or even a hint of rain.

Storms instigate fear.  For many, it's surging winds, green skies and pelting rains strike panic within their hearts.  As a child, I was one such person.  But I've learned something fascinating from the eagle, and so I must share.

Eagles love storms!

They can detect storms long before the dark clouds cover the horizon and, according to research, the eagles become "excited" when they see a storm approaching.  They don't escape the storm - instead they use those gale force winds to carry them higher than ever before.


I thought of that today as I zipped across country roads.  Hot, sunny days are what so many long to hear on the weather forecast.  Still, to have endless days of summer sun would ultimately leave us with  powdery dust and parched soil.

No growth.

No bounty.

Only famine.

And despair.

And death.

Rising up like an eagle is a common phrase in our society, but can I suggest even more?  Life will have it's share of storms, can we welcome their disturbances in our lives?  Can we become excited as we see the storms impending arrival?

It is above the storms winds that an eagle is able to find rest, for there it is able to soar effortlessly, forced by the angry gusts to climb higher where it can enjoy the unbroken, panoramic display of the earth below.

Welcome the storms.  Lift up your hands to Your Creator.  Let Him teach your spirit how to rise above the howling winds and deafening thunder.  He has the power to take you higher than ever before and there you'll find rest as you drink in the beauty of His majesty and power.

Your righteousness reaches to the skies,

O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you? 

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,

you will restoremy life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.

You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. 

I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God;

I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. 

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you--

I, whom you have redeemed. 

Psalm 71:19-23

Good Friday

He paid a debt

He did not owe...

I owed a debt

I could not pay...

I needed someone

To wash my sins away... to set me free... to give me hope... and a reason to get up in the morning!

My heart is full.  I sit here, surrounded by laptops, tax papers, little boy chatter, and unfinished grocery lists.  Still, I cannot deny this feeling welling up inside my soul.

He is here.

The One who gives me life.   And breath.  And joy.  And beauty.  And hope.  And peace.

Sweet peace.

Isaiah 61

"The Spirit of God, the Master,

is on me because God anointed me.  

He sent me to preach good news to the poor, 

heal the heartbroken, 

Announce freedom to all captives, 

pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace— 

a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies— 

and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, 

give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom, 

a praising heart instead of a languid spirit...

I will sing for joy in God, 

explode in praise from deep in my soul...

For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, 

and as a garden cascades with blossoms,

So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom 

and puts praise on display before the nations."

"So what could I say?

And what could I do?

But offer this heart, oh God

Completely to You!" 

-J Houston

Blessings to everyone on this day we call Good Friday!