Is there a perfect time to trust in God?

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:1:

“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. (NIV)

But it is helpful to understand the original context that is offered by the preceding verse:

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. (NIV)

That’s next exactly good news, is it? Here’s the context. This is a letter from the prophet to Israelites who had been deported from their homes to exile in Babylon. When he wrote, Jerusalem and the Temple had not yet been destroyed, but the Babylonians had already attacked the city twice and taken the letter’s recipients as captives.

And the prophet’s message is, “God has not forgotten you, but it will be seventy years before my promise of deliverance is fulfilled. Trust God to provide.”

He follows this with instructions to build houses and settle down, plant gardens, marry and bear children, and invest in the prosperity of the city where you find yourselves (29:4-7).

I imagine that this message did not go down well with the exiles. “If God wants good for us, then get us out of this place and back to our home. We need help right now.” I can think of a better context to ask someone to trust in God and allow God to be part of your life.

How does this inform us as we seek to allow God to enter our lives? Several ideas come to mind.

First, when things are going well and we are busy with our lives, it is easy to think that there will be more appropriate times to invest in our walk with God. God is good, my world is great, no problem. There’s always tomorrow!

Second, when crisis comes and we earnestly seek God, we want an answer right then, but God invites us into the long game. That’s not very satisfying, but it may be necessary.

Third, while we are waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled, we can allow God into our lives and be a blessing where we are.

I return to my initial question: “Is there a perfect time to trust in God?” I think that time is when we grant ourselves permission to receive God and God’s goodness. Things may be good, they may be bad, they may be ugly.

Are you ready to allow God to work in your life? If not, what holds you back?

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