We have all had those moments of in between – moments when you are not here nor there, moments of waiting for the right timing, God’s timing, and moments of trusting. We Trust in the plan that God has for not only us as individuals, but also as a whole. We all have come to know and love the verse we find in Jeremiah 29:11, “for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Yet, how many know the context of this verse, and why it is so important?

Jeremiah was written in the moment of the Jewish exile, a moment in which the Jewish people were, in a way, far from God. Yet they also were not far away from God, as we see when we read all of Jeremiah 29. God is still with them, speaking, providing, and giving peace. In a way God is telling his people that they are in a moment of in between, that they are not far away from God, nor are they with God. They are in the time of in between.

God has given them a command. In Jeremiah 29 we see God tell the Jewish people that they are to settle into the land. That they are to take this time of in between to grow, prosper, and hear God’s words. They are to take this time to live in peace and grow as a people. They are not to just sit in this moment of in between and do nothing. They are not to simply give up since nothing is going on. They are far from their home, they are far from the place of God, yet they are not without God, they are not without each other. They are in between. God still has great plans for them, God is still working, they just must fall back of God, lean on him, and grow. We must do the same.

When we find ourselves in the moments of the in between where we are not here nor there, we must find it within ourselves to fall back on God. To rest in his peace, and the understanding of his plan. It is only then that we can rest in the hope of the future that God has for us.

~Pastor Jillian