There is a song that has been resonating deep in my heart lately – World outside your window by Hillsong, Young & Free. This song has a catchy chorus, but also deep truth. This chorus for whatever reason, has been playing on repeat in my head. In fact, I woke up this morning signing them to myself. The chorus is: “It’s not time to be silent, don’t you dare hide your light. There’s a world outside your window, so don’t let it pass you by. Lift your hands to the heavens, lift your voice to the sky. Praise the LORD of all creation, let his name be lifted high, singing- Oh, ohohoho” (you get the idea).

Today, when I just happened to be reading in Jeremiah 29, those words took a deeper hold within my heart. Let me share a bit of history for context – Jeremiah, a prophet of God, is writing to exiles living in Babylon. God’s chosen people had continued to ignore and disregard God’s words, they had failed to listen to numerous prophets directing them back to the One True God. Now they were dealing with the consequence of their disobedience. Jerusalem had been conquered and many of its people deported to Babylon. These are the people to whom our prophet is writing, and his message is somewhat surprising; basically, he says “we (God’s chosen people) have messed up and this exile is our consequence. Your gonna be there a while, so go ahead and make the most of your situation and live life to the fullest, get up, get out and start seeking God again.”

This story is so relevant to us today! Many are feeling like exiles in their own homes, jobs, cities and even their own churches. Isn’t it time we get over ourselves and start truly seeking God once again? Jeremiah 29:5-7 paraphrasing in my words says; “suck it up and start living right where you are, right now, stop waiting for everything to be perfect”. The Bible says it like this, starting at the very end of verse 6 and going on to verse 7- “Multiply there, do not decrease. Pursue the well being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.” (emphasis mine). In other words, there is work to be done for Jesus RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! Don’t let the fact that you long to be someplace else, doing something else and perhaps even with someone else keep you from the work at hand. He provides three instructions: Multiply, Pursue and Pray. Can I just be honest and say I fail at these things every single day!! Seriously, have we not all longed to be someplace else recently?! For me, it is so easy to let my eyes and heart get way too far down the road and I miss the here and now, miss who and what are right in front of me. Planning and working towards the future are not bad things, we need to do them, but there is a necessary balance between what is and what is yet to come.  

God has placed each of us exactly where we are, at exactly this time and the truth is-regardless of where you live, work or go to school – there are people you see every single day that need to know Jesus, need to be encouraged to pursue him with all their hearts and encouragement to keep fighting the fight. There are a couple of other “Bible heroes” that come to mind when I think about this. One is Esther, the girl who would become queen and take a huge risk by asking the king by to find favor on her people. Pretty much everyone knows Esther 4:14  which says “Who knows, perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” When we read the entire story, we learn that when this young woman was confronted with a difficult choice, she fasted and prayed, and then took a risk to follow God’s prompting and ask the king to deliver her people.

In Numbers 13 & 14 there are two other young men who were willing to take a risk and follow God. In this historic event, we find the nation of Israel camping outside the “promised land” when Moses sends scouts into the land to see what it will be like. Twelve men were sent, of those only two, Joshua and Caleb came back willing to take a risk to obey and follow God (Numbers 13:30). The remaining men gave way to fear and a challenge that seemed too big for them. In fact, they longed to be someplace else-back in Egypt living in slavery. Events like this one- failure to trust, obey and follow God come with consequences.  Reading further in this story we learn in Numbers 14:26-31 that only two men, Joshua and Caleb were allowed entry into the promised land. This takes us right back to where we began in Jeremiah, where we read about how God’s people are still failing to trust, obey and follow. Again, consequences have come and the people are not where they want or had hoped to be, they long to be someplace else. The thing is though, God still desires them to follow him! Just a few verses later we read in Jeremiah 29:10-14 “you will seek me and find me, when you search for me ALL your heart” and “I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you” (emphasis mine). That’s kind of amazing, right?!

This same promise is still true for us today! Which when you stop and think about it is absolutely amazing!! The God of the entire universe, the same God we read about in the Bible, the same God that Esther, Joshua, Caleb and Jeremiah trusted – still pursues us today! His love hasn’t weakened over time, or grown cold and distant. No, history shows us how he continues to love and pursue his children, even to the point of sending Jesus, his One and Only Son to come and die in order to save us! The Bible is not simply a book to be read and studied, but a guide to teach, lead, correct and instruct. We must do the reading and studying, but with the purpose of learning and allowing God to use it to convict our sins and set us on the right path.

I am more convinced than ever that we (God’s people, those of us the call ourselves Christians) have got to wake up and step up because as the song says “It’s not time to be silent, don’t dare hide your light! there’s a world outside your window, so don’t let it pass you by”. Because lets just be honest here – if we choose to stay hidden away, waiting for someone or something other than Jesus to save us then we’ve missed the entire gospel message. People we know, people we love, people we call friends, even family members are waiting for us to multiply, pursue and pray them into the kingdom of God. If not us-then who?

Let me leave you with Jeremiah 24:15 “But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship—the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”