“Multiply there; do not decrease”  Jeremiah 29:6b

Tonight, as I was having my devotion, I came across a verse that hit me in a way it never had before.  I was reading in Jeremiah 29.  This chapter is a letter that was written to the Israelites that were taken captive into Babylon.  In this letter the Lord was telling them that this captivity was going to last 70 years and that after those 70 years He would restore them.  Think of it friends- 70 years in captivity!!  For most of the Israelites who were in their adulthood, that meant that they would most likely die there in Babylon.  This was going to be a trial that they were in for the long haul.  Now, they had 2 options of how they could live out the remainder of their lives.  They could wallow in self pity and blame God for their situation or they could choose to thrive even in the midst of their hardship.  In Jeremiah 29:6, the Lord was telling them to choose the latter.  He was basically saying, “My children, use these years in captivity as an opportunity to grow.  Do not waste these years; drink in every lesson that I can teach you in the midst of the pain.”

All of us have hardhsips that we face in our lives.  We may feel as though we are being held captive in bodies that are ailing or in marriages that are less than perfect.  We may feel isolated and trapped by fears that haunt us.  We may feel pressured by our jobs or consumed by the mundaneness of everyday life.  It is in these very circumstances that the Lord is saying, “Multiply there; do not decrease.  Use this opportunity for growth.”  I personally have a tendancy for my hardships (such as my voice), to make me want to shrink back and isolate myself.  The Lord is telling me, however, to use these very trials as chances to grow in patience, to grow in love, to grow in dependency on Christ, to grow in knowledge of His promises, to grow in longsuffering, to grow in grace, to grow in courage and to grow in faith.

I encourage you today to choose to THRIVE in the place that you are in, even if that place is tough.  The Lord will give you the power to grow in grace and you will soon see yourself bursting through the place that has held you captive, into a realm of endless possibilities, because you have chosen to grow where you are planted.