Reading 79 • December 2
Today's Scripture
Jeremiah 29:4–14
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 what they 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.
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord. For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (NRSV)
Reflection
Writing these devotions takes time. Sometimes so does deciding what to write!
A few days after I drew this assignment was the fiftieth anniversary of the wreck of a ship, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. It resulted in the death of all twenty-nine members of the crew, as I knew soon afterward when Gordon Lightfoot released a song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” as the lyrics gave the number of the crewmen. Even when I was so much younger, I was mesmerized by the story in the song — especially a line after the wreck:
“Does anyone know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?”
As I heard the song on the radio in November, that question bumped into these verses from Jeremiah, which I’d just been assigned.
God had the plan listed in the early verses — and centuries later, he had a plan for an iron ore delivery by the Edmund Fitzgerald. But “the gales of November,” as the song put it, led to the wreck.
As I’ve considered these verses, I’ve wondered about plans and interruptions. I know there are accidents as well as plans, and this passage strikes me as fatherly advice when kids have had an accident. Children might not be able to see where their father’s love is when an accident happens, but it’s there.
God is loving and faithful to us. When the waves, or other things, “turn the minutes to hours,” I can’t believe that God has gone anywhere.
God and God’s love are near us, even when we can’t see God. God’s plan is there, even when we cannot perceive it.
Prayer
Dear God, help us to remember your advice and plans, so that we can sense your presence even when we cannot see. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Written by Margaret Laing, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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