Blooming Where You're Planted

Have you ever heard the phrase “bloom where you are planted”?

It’s been around for a number of years and it’s a great phrase. It’s all about being content and flourishing where you are. Making the best of the situation you are in.

I am reminded of a chapter in Jeremiah which was written to the exiles in Babylon. Jeremiah 29:4-7 says, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

And a well-known verse for many of us is just a few verses later. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

We often quote the above verse, but when we consider it in the context of those who had been exiled to Babylon – these were very difficult days for the Israelites and they were in exile for a number of years. They needed to bloom where they were planted, in the midst of all that was going on around them.

How are you doing with that? Can you find spots to share the light of Jesus with those around you, even if you don’t like the place where you are living – literally or figuratively?

• What if you don’t like the neighbourhood you live in – could you still make some muffins for the little old lady across the street?
• What if you don’t like the repeated visits to the clinic trying to figure out your child’s health issues – could you still greet those working there with a smile and word of encouragement?
• What if you don’t like the uncertainty of your children’s choices and their disrespect of curfew – could you still worship God while you trust Him with their lives?

What if we could still share Jesus with others in the midst of the situations and circumstances we find ourselves in everyday?

What if we could still praise the Lord even if we can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel? 

What if we could still be at peace in the midst of the storm raging around us?

Then we can stand on Jeremiah 29:11. We know God spoke this to the Israelites when they were exiled to Babylon – He will be with us wherever we are too!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jo-Ann