Day 166: Jeremiah 30:10

"'So do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,' says the LORD. 'For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile. Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet, and no one will terrorize them.'" ~Jeremiah 30:10, NLT

We know that Jeremiah had a rough propheting career. Not only did he have to give terrible prophecies, he also saw most of them come to fruition. And generally he only saw his doomsday prophecies come to pass. He wasn't really around to see the above verse come into reality - but I'm sure he knew it would happen some day.

God wasn't going to let Israel get decimated beyond repair. He didn't wipe them out. He promised, as above, to bring Israel back again. He says "do not be afraid, do not be dismayed." Israel was being carted off by brutish Babylonians, and that's what God has to say? God's people had abandoned Him, and He was dealing with them as He must deal with those who aren't on His side - and He tells them, as He destroys them, not to be afraid?

Yet that's exactly what God asks of us.

When we're not on His side, bad things happen. Those things even happen when we ARE on His side! Yet He is God. We can choose to get back on His side. And we can choose to obey, to take courage, to not be afraid. Whose side are you on? There's no border, you're either ON God's side, or you're NOT. Whose side?

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