Settle And Rest, Part 1

February 16, 2023

Melissa Valerio

For a long while, when I was still working at my previous job, I felt the calling of God to go into ministry. I just knew He was shaping my heart to run after Him in this arena. Day after day, I felt the tug growing stronger. I’d wake up each morning with a new sense of purpose, ready to face the day in His strength and ready to stumble upon the job He was leading me to. But with each passing month and no change in career, I became more anxious. I knew I heard Him correctly, but I wasn’t seeing any evidence in my life that He was making a way for me. No doors were being opened, no paths were being illuminated, no word from God in what the next step should be. “Lord,” I’d say “I know You’re leading me down the path of ministry, and I know You have a place in mind for me, and I know You’re preparing me for it, but I still don’t see it.” This became a frenzied prayer month after month, year after year as I begged Him to show me where to go and what steps to take to get me where He was leading me. Three years later, I finally got a word from Him. Ready for this?!?!?  He told me to “Settle down!”  

Thankful that I received a word from Him, although not what I would have preferred, I knew immediately what He was saying. He was telling me that it would still be quite some time before He brought me to that promise. Why? Because He still had work to do in me. So that brought to mind the story about the Israelites when they were taken into captivity in Babylon.  

Because Israel sinned greatly against the Lord by worshiping other gods, and refused to turn away from their sins, God allowed them to be taken into captivity by an enemy nation (Babylon), to punish them for all the detestable things they’d done. After they were taken as captives, everyone was grieved and wailed out to God for deliverance. Guess what He told them — He told them to settle down. Sounds familiar.  

Jeremiah 29: 4-7 “that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said: 

I had you taken from Jerusalem to Babylonia. Now I tell you to settle there and build houses. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. Get married and have children, then help your sons find wives and help your daughters find husbands, so they can have children as well. I want your numbers to grow, not to get smaller. Pray for peace in Babylonia and work hard to make it prosperous. The more successful that nation is, the better off you will be.” (CEV) 

What He was saying to the Israelites was that they would be there for quite a long time. 70 years, as it turned out. And within those 70 years, He wanted them to work diligently in the land. In order for them to prosper, they needed to seek the welfare of the city and pray for it. Because if the land thrived, the people would thrive. 
 

I can totally relate to this story now. Not that the job I was in was in any way a bad place or “enemy nation”, or that He led me there to punish me. But the Lord was teaching me several things through this story …. 

1. It would be a good while until He moved me to the next stage of His plan 

1. While I was still at the place/job He had me at, I needed to seek the welfare of the workplace. Because if it prospered, I would prosper 

1. I needed to sow the seeds of ministry right there in the workplace (build homes & plant & eat what it produced) 

So here is what I learned… the plan/promise would still come, but it would come at the perfect time. And in the meantime, I could choose to honor God by trusting Him to handle all the background details, keep myself open to His teaching, and labor in the land that He had me at currently. Then trust that in His perfect timing, He would take me to the next stage. So that’s exactly what I did. And 2 years later, that’s exactly what He did.  

Prayer: Heavenly Lord, as we all know, Your plan cannot be rushed. Thank You for handling all the details while You prepare us for the next stage of our lives, in accordance with Your will and purpose for our lives. While we are at the exact place You have us, give us Your peace and settle our spirits. Remind us that we have work to do right here, right now, in whatever place you have us. We pray all this in Your Son’s holy name, Amen. 

Action: Read 2 Kings 17: 5-20. Consider this — God is extremely patient. From the entrance into the promised land to the exile was about 800 years. During these 800 years, God petitioned again and again through His prophets for His people to turn from their sins and turn back to Him. But again and again, His people refused to listen. They would not turn from their evil deeds. They continued to live life apart from God. So finally, after 800 years, He let them go. That’s quite a long time, wouldn’t you say? Even if I could live that long, I wouldn’t wait that long for someone to decide to love me. Let’s not make Him wait any longer for us. Let’s give our hearts fully to the Lord today. He’s been waiting an awful long time as it is.