Taste the Lemonade

Have you ever been carried away?  Oh, I've gotten carried away about some things, but never literally carried away.  I once saw a house in the middle of a mid-western field.  It seemed very out of place, and learned it was: flood waters had lifted it from its foundations and deposited in the middle of a field.  The local folks discovered it after the waters subsided but had no idea where it came from. Now, that is carried away!

 

God has to carry us away sometimes -- away from our personal dreams & ambitions, even places of comfort, so He can make us better.  That's what happened to the Jews in Jeremiah 29; they were captured and taken from their homeland to Babylon.  Yes, they felt forsaken and were overcome with despair.  Well, haven't you heard that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade?  God told His Children to make lemonade; He said, "build houses & dwell in them; plant gardens & eat their fruit; take wives & have sons and daughters; seek peace where I have caused you to be carried; pray to the Lord for it ... for in its peace you will have peace." (29:6-7)  What do we do when things don't go our way?  Is it "whine" or "lemonade?"  Here is one of the greatest comfort foods for a sagging spirit: "I know the thoughts that I think toward you ... thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11).  Do you need to re-read that?  Peace.  A future.  A hope.  God has plans for us!  Plans to prosper us with peace.  Something to live and hope for.  Posterity & reward.  There should be no question about whether we'll like it or not -- it's straight from the mind & heart of God!  What more can we ask for!   What a promise to be carried away FROM what we THINK is best TO what God's KNOWS is best and has PLANNED for us.  Now, can't you just taste that lemonade!