Do you want to have a secure future? Do you want to live out the good plan God promised in Jeremiah 29:11? If so, then you should consider His advice in Jeremiah 29:7, where he said, '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 have welfare.'
Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Do you know when God gave this promise to Israel? Do you know that He gave this when they were in EXILE in Babylon?
Often we pray this prayer when we are in the middle of a difficult situation or a great trial. During those times, we would pray for God to deliver us and bring us to someplace better. But in the case of the exiled Jews, He told them to stay put and to "seek the welfare of the city" where He sent them.
Are you in the middle of a very trying situation? Have you been praying for God to deliver you and take you to a better place, but He has not answered your request for a long time? Is it possible that you are where you are because that is where He wants you to be because that is where you can bring Him glory? But how will you be able to do this when there is so much oppression around you? I have learned that you will only be able to live out His good plan when you seek the welfare of the "city" you are in, "for in its welfare you will have welfare."
Do you know what happened when the Jews obeyed the Lord's instruction? Do you know that because he obeyed, Daniel became the governor for the kings of Babylon, of Media, and of Persia? And in the process, God also raised Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to help him. So while they may have been exiled into the land of their enemies, the Jews ultimately ruled over them inside their own land. And because of their witness, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and Cyrus, king of Persia, confessed that the God of the Jews is the true God over all the earth.
Sana God will use you the way He used Daniel and give you a secure future. Pero before He can do this, you must first seek the welfare of the company you work for, the city you live in, and, especially, the country of your birth.
