The Unexpected
"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem into Babylon: ' Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce…..Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers you will prosper.'" Jeremiah 29.4,5,7 [TNIV]
When Israel was conquered and exiled in Babylon, God gave instructions that they should settle down and work for the common good of the people and places where they had been put. Presumably they had little choice where, but they had a choice about how they should live. Would they do as Jeremiah in his letter said that they should do? The instruction was rather unexpected!
Whilst life on Overslade over the years has been quite ordinary, there was one evening when the totally unexpected happened. David had arranged for someone from the police to come to the Community Centre for a chat about the nuisance that some were creating on the estate. This was meant to be a small, private meeting!
Well, the word got out and about sixty people turned up, irate with the police and the Borough Council for not doing their jobs properly. Anger and frustration led to decisions to meet again in a few weeks when proposals would be announced about what the authorities would do.
The outcomes were unexpected. In the following months, police liaison was improved, the Council established a residents association, and family support workers were employed. The opportunity for us, the church, to employ a children's worker became clear. Life on the estate improved,
thank God.
Perhaps the call from God is for us to settle down and work for the improvement in our communities and neighbourhoods. This is an important dimension of God's Kingdom at work; his work in which we are invited to participate. Pray for your neighbourhood and take encouragement from Jeremiah's letter.
Richard Farnell
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