Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass … It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
—Vivian Greene
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 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 too will prosper.” 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.” Jeremiah 29:4-7, 11 NIV
Christians are exiles, our home is God’s Kingdom, but we’re also called to be influencers wherever He has planted us, to declare His goodness so that His name is honored everywhere on earth as it is in heaven, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, ushering in His reign and kingdom reality everywhere on earth as it already is in heaven, and to live out His will and lead others in living it out as well everywhere on earth as it is in heaven.
That’s choosing to live the abundant life He offers us. That’s what it means to “increase” even in exile and pray that the city we find ourselves in experiences Shalom, the With-God-Life.