Jeremiah 29:4-14

It’s a rather strange saying, isn’t it? “Bloom where you’re planted.” After all, how could you bloom in a place you aren’t planted?

Which is the point God is making in Jeremiah 29 to those exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. If the people didn’t put down roots in Babylon, they couldn’t and wouldn’t bloom.

Right there it sounds like God had a plan to prosper them, not to harm them; to give them hope and a future (Jer.29:11).

It was not a plan God would unilaterally bring about. It was a plan that required the exiles to partner with Him. They were to build houses to live in, plant gardens to eat from, marry and have children who would marry and have children. 

They were to pray for and seek the peace and prosperity of the city in which they were forced to live. Its thriving would be their thriving as well. And they were to be on guard against deceiving prophets.

These exiles had lived in Jerusalem under bad king after bad king, false prophet after false prophet. They had ignored the true prophets’ warnings that if they persisted in turning their backs on God, suffering would intensify. 

True prophecies come to pass. Jerusalem was destroyed, its leaders sent into exile. Now their backs were against the wall in Babylon. And, they were being given an opportunity by God. 

After their years in the chaos of unfaithfulness, it was an opportunity to establish a setting in which the exiles could turn their attention to God. “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me. You will seek Me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer.29:12-13). 

God’s plan was for them to return to their real identity. That real identity would, in turn, influence the city for good. It would be a virtuous cycle of blooming.

In their story we Kingdom of God citizens have our master plan for how to live as aliens in the kingdom of the world.

We have left the chaos of unfaithfulness and discovered our real identity in God. Now, still here in the world, we can bloom, contributing in God-enabled ways to the peace and prosperity of the place in which we live. 

God planted, waters and shines on us, enabling us to bloom where we are planted. Through our blooming He blesses others. Blessing others blesses us. Pause and think on this