He's Not Done With You Yet
10/4/20261 min read
I like change. I like uprooting and starting something new, and that has given me plenty of experiences early in my career. It has also kept me from building anything meaningful in one place.
Maybe you know the feeling. You want to be somewhere else, doing something else, with different people. I've had to keep reminding myself that God sees those desires and hears us. And the harvest we long for often takes longer because of the work He is doing right now.
That's hard in a world built for instant gratification and the fastest possible dopamine hit. Patience, self-control, and surrender don't come naturally. God doesn't promise us comfort or success. He does promise Himself, and a hope that outlasts whatever season we're in.
Jeremiah wrote to Jewish exiles suffering in Babylon, and his letter is realistic hope at its best. Before the promise came, they were told to build houses, plant gardens, and seek the good of the place they'd been sent. Then this:
"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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." (Jeremiah 29:11-14)
If you're waiting anxiously for your next season, I believe it will come. But God isn't finished with you in this one. He is refining you for better work in His service, and you'll come out the other side more equipped for whatever He asks of you next.