Jeremiah 29:10–14 (NKJV)
10 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Sometimes it seems we have gone through the most tragic times. Maybe we have sat and wept because we have been taken captive by the enemy. Our minds have moved beyond the thoughts of God and we are now surrounded by the darkness of evil.
There times God allows us to suffer the evil of a sinful world. It may be we have become so accustomed to God being with us, that we forget God is with us. We put God in a closet or special room of our lives and do not just forget about His but ignore Him. This happened to Judah. God showed them what life without Him would be like. Taken captives they sat by the river and wept. God did bring restoration to the nation.
God brought encouragement to the nation by turning tragedy into triumph. God brought them back to the land He had given them. God led them to rebuild the nation and their lives. They would be given a hope built on God and His word and love.
God has a purpose in our lives. We are in the thoughts of God. “God brings us a future and a hope.” God would hear their prayers but they must “CALL UPON HIM AND SEEK AFTER HIM WITH ALL THEIR HEARTS.”
Today many professing Christians live in captivity of satanic rule. With the mouth, they profess Jesus as Savior but their hearts are turned from Him. David had sinned against God and in repentance cried out to God in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” We need a new heart turned toward God
When we seek God with all our hearts we will find Him. When we seek God with all our hearts we will be released from the spiritual prison of satanic rule. Satan is a deceiver, attacking the church and leading those whose mind is not focused on God into a dark abyss of self-delusion.
Seek God! Truly seek God and He will be found by you. You will be freed from the spiritual prison of satanic rule.