Pastor’s Perspective: “Bloom Where You are Planted”

There is no question that Spring is here! I love this time of year for several reasons. One reason is that Resurrection Sunday (Easter) is just over a week away (at the time of this writing)!  Of course, we can certainly celebrate King Jesus’ resurrection every day, but clearly there is an extra emphasis on this specific Sunday each year. In addition, baseball is back! High school and college teams started weeks ago and MLB Opening Day is next week! Who agrees with me that it should be a national holiday? And finally, while we still have those annoying cold spells for a couple of days, largely the cold weather is gone (praise God!) and has transitioned to warmer temperatures with lots and lots of rain. With lots and lots of rain, that also means new growth. The sunny Spring days are often paired with the sound of lawn mowers and the scents of freshly cut grass. The lovely smells of Spring also include freshly grown flowers. Personally, I’ve never been much of a gardener, but I do appreciate the sights and smells that beautiful spring flowers bring.

Blooming flowers also remind me of a specific passage in the Bible found in Jeremiah 29. This chapter is the home of a very familiar verse: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” While this is a beautiful verse with a beautiful promise, it is often quoted without an understanding of the context in which it was written. The people of God were in exile in Babylon. They had disobeyed their merciful and longsuffering God countless times and they had been warned concerning this punishment if they did not repent and turn from their sin. Now they found themselves in captivity in a foreign land. Just before the famous Jeremiah 29:11, God had another message for His people for this season of captivity that would last 70 years. He said this in verses 4-7: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.  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.” I believe there is an important message for us in these verses.  

God is sovereign and means for us to be where we are. Your situation may be exactly what you want it to be or it could be nothing close to what you want it to be. Regardless, God means for you to be where you are and He has a good plan and purpose for this season, even if that’s hard to see. The people of God’s disobedience resulted in their exile, but God still had a plan and purpose for them during that season.  And He told them to bloom where He now had them planted. What does that mean for us today? Whether your situation is exactly the way you want it to be or miles away, embrace wherever God has you today and believe that He has a good plan and purpose for your life. Press into Him and seek to obey His Word. Live in obedience to Him wherever He has you. Seek the welfare of the city where He has you planted and pray to Him on its behalf. Trust that He means for you to be where you are and that His plans for you include a future and a hope. Bloom where He has planted you!