Exiled Figs

God showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of God. This was after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jehoiachin son of Jehoaikim king of Judah from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon, along with the leaders of Judah, the craftsmen, and the skilled laborers. In one basket the figs were of the finest quality, ripe and ready to eat. In the other basket the figs were rotten, so rotten they couldn't be eaten...

God told me ... The exiles... are like the good figs, and I'll make sure they get good treatment. I'll keep my eye on them so that their lives are good, and I'll bring them back to this land. I'll build them up, not tear them down; I'll plant them, not uproot them.

And I'll give them a heart to know Me, God. They'll be My people and I'll be their God, for they'll have returned to Me with all their hearts.
Jeremiah 24:1-7

These verses really spoke to me, to a place I'm in right now in my life --- not in exile, but neither in a place that is totally the promised place God has for me and my family. And in such a place, in the place of exile that Jeremiah and the peoples' lives centered around, is that a place where one would typically expect to find good, fresh, unspoiled, mouth-watering, guest-worthy figs? I did a double-take when i read that passage.

Seems to me, at first thought, that the place to find such figs would be in a place of freedom and life and blessing.

But it was in that place of exile that God promised to "make sure they get good treatment," to keep His "eye on them so that their lives are good."

And the part that really medicated my very souly soul and smoothed my ruffled spiritual feathers was: and I'll bring them back to this land. I'll build them up, not tear them down; I'll plant them, not uproot them.

And in the process, what will happen to the people, to the proverbial figs? What's been happening to me?

And I'll give them a heart to know Me, God. They'll be My people and I'll be their God, for they'll have returned to Me with all their hearts.

I haven't taken my heart away from God, but there is always room for me to know God more, to desire to know Him more. To climb up beside Him, under His wing, with the whole of my heart in my outstretched hands.

Thank You, Lord God, for keeping Your eye on Your children and the promised place You have for us in our lives, families, jobs, ministries .... Thank You building us up and planting us, even in the midst of circumstances that might smell suspiciously of exile. Thank You for being in that place now and in the place to come.