Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Jeremiah 29:5
REFERENCE
Jeremiah 29:1-6
Many of us aren’t where we would want to be. We wish things were nicer, better, easier and more comfortable. However, sometimes life throws us ‘curveballs’ that throw us off balance and blur our vision. In baseball, a curveball is a ball pitched (thrown) in a curving path so as to make it more difficult to hit (It also means something that is unexpected and trying). Even major league players have difficulties hitting curveballs. It takes a lot of skill, focus, the right stance and experience for a batsman to successfully hit a curveball. God wants us to be like professional batsmen, and still hit life’s curveballs with strength and accuracy.
The children of Judah were in a curveball season of life; they had been taken captive by their enemies and were in a foreign land. The most natural cry in their hearts was, ‘Get us out of here Lord, we want to go home!’ However, God said to them, “Not that easy, this season may last a little longer, just make the most of it.” The prophet was sent to tell them to plant gardens, get married, bear children and increase in numbers. Increase in numbers? In captivity and adversity, How?
Life may have thrown you a curveball; maybe the loss of a job, delayed payment while your loan accrues interests or ‘slow’ business. You may be living in a place you don’t like, working on a job you don’t like, in situations you wish and pray may change quickly, and you have postponed ‘living’ and ‘enjoying life’ till when things get better – when you marry, when you get a job, when you get a house of your own, when government changes, etc. But God is saying, ‘No, make the most of where you are right now; succeed and enjoy your life.’
Learning from the Jews in our story, God is simply saying, don’t let your captivity kill or stop your productivity, neither should you let your incarceration stop your reproduction. Let your ‘prison’ become a reason for creative thinking. Learn to thrive in adversity, let it work to your advantage; learn to make the most of even the worst of situations. Don’t let your tears blind your eyes to opportunities, and just because you are in captivity does not exclude you from prosperity – Joseph prospered while in prison.’ Such a mindset will ultimately be your ticket out of your predicament.
Don’t hand over your prosperity to circumstances, your location or your government; your help is in God. Commit to prosper in spite of the current setbacks or crashing currency. Receive grace to thrive in adversity and to prosper through the pain, in Jesus’ name. HIT THAT CURVEBALL!
PHOTO QUOTE
ADDITIONAL STUDY
Genesis 39:1-3 & 20-23, Exodus 1:7-12, Psalm 118:5-7 & 13-17
CONFESSION
I declare that the Greater One lives in me. Therefore, I am not a victim of my circumstances. I thrive in adversity. No situation is big enough to stop what God will do in my life. Where there is a casting down all around, there shall be a lifting up for me. I do not postpone my prosperity to ‘when the times are fairer,’ NO! I prosper and succeed, NOW, in Jesus name.
