Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, November 28, 2021
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: God promises hope.
When the people of Israel were exiled to Babylon, they had no idea how long they would be in exile, or even if their exile would ever end. Everything they knew was turned inside out—their homes, their families, even their worship. Jeremiah came with a word of hope for a hopeless people.
Even as they offered hope, Jeremiah’s words were probably difficult to hear. Through Jeremiah, God told the people to hunker down, to prepare for a long winter. Settle into the land, God told them, for they would be there for a while. Have families; encourage your kin to have families. Live off the land in which you are exiled. However, first and foremost, remember God.
One of the few things that makes suffering more tolerable is knowing that suffering will one day end – knowing there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. An illness has a cure. Financial stress has the possibility of relief through work or other assistance. But suffering with no end date can be daunting. For the Israelites in exile, the thought of decades of settling into a foreign land was probably daunting. Nobody wants to be told their suffering might be indefinite.
But even in the midst of an undefined term of suffering, God promises hope – a restoration of all that the people have lost. For us too, there is hope. It is a hope that suffering will not have the final say. Sin and death will not prevail. God is with us, even when we must hunker down for a long winter. In the midst of exile, the people tended the land, raised families, and continued to know God. In our exile, we too, can be upheld by the love of family (biological or otherwise), we can continue to move forward however slowly. We can continue to worship God. Life goes on, even when it seems like it does not.
![1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24], God’s Care for the Widow](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/bf37035e-33d5-439f-a0d6-a68b02d0f1bc/24-11-03.jpg)
