Build houses and settle down...

1/08/08

 

Build houses and settle down…

 

"…plant gardens and eat what they produce…” a simple instruction that is sometimes hard to obey; especially when comes in the middle of unexpected transitions or shifts of direction in our lives.  A simple mandate to live, to lay down roots, could be hard to obey when our own expectations are not considering it; when we determine that is not the right time, that is not what we want or what we need now… it may be that we believe we are just not ready, even if deep inside all of us are longing for a place to belong, for a land to call home.

Have you ever been an immigrant?

The whole meaning of the word home gets much more complex, transcending convenience, reason, and geographical places… it gets into the very heart and soul of people; it affects behaviors and emotions taking them our of the logic; it influences all people around us, especially our own families and friends.

The context of these instructions given by God through His prophet Jeremiah; is not far from my meditations since these were instructions for people in exile, who were taken by force far from Jerusalem, their homeland.  I imagine they were confused and afraid, struggling with the language, forced to work and labor in positions they did not choose.  I assume they were worried about tomorrow, about finances, about family far away, and about practical needs… I assume they were expecting a word from God, a word of deliverance, closer to their own desires; but instead of that they received instructions to settle down; to build, to plant… to live; again, a simple thing that sometimes is hard to accomplish.

God knows better than us.  His ways are higher than ours.  The more I meditate in what is required to obey instructions like these, the more I’m convinced it comes back to the main concept of maturity and growing with God… just real and practical thrust in God; just active faith in Him; and just sincere surrendering of our own desires and expectations to God; can put us in the right position to move forward… and nothing of this is possible without God’s grace, because without Him we can do nothing.  It’s one of the first times I see immigration as a potential instrument of spiritual growth. 

I have been personally instructed and challenged by God through these words at the beginning of this year.  I feel this is His mandate for me for 2008.  I don’t mean I did not choose to come and life in US, that was my choice and the gift of God’s will; but I guess I’m realizing that you can be and live in a place without really settling down there, without roots… what a sad though. 

Years ago God helped me understand that I was an immigrant in this earth; that my real home was in Heaven… I think now He is helping me understand that even as an immigrant, even having my real roots in heaven; I’m called to live a full life in this earth, to be fully present here, building and planting, since that is the only way I can be a real witness, a real testimony of His redemption in life and death; a real testimony of His redemptive mission for all creation.  His wisdom humbles me… I don’t really know anything.

This time I would like to ask you to do something – and I really wonder is somebody actually read what I write – but if there is somebody who reads, I want to ask you to do two things for me:

The first one is Kingdom oriented, comes from the realization of immigration being a potential tool of God, not just for evangelism but for growing of believers… would you make a commitment to pray this year for the millions of immigrants that God allows to come to US from many nations?  Would you ask God to use the reality of immigration for His purposes in the lives of those millions of souls?  We hear enough bad news and controversy about immigration; apart of any personal opinion you may have, would you ask God to use it for His glory?

The second thing I want to ask you to do is personal and comes from the realization that building a home and planting a garden should not be a goal to work for alone, without companion.  A house to live and a fruit to enjoy are better when you share them… a life to live is better with a partner.  If you want, and if you can, please pray for a bride for me.  May God allow me to build a home for a family and a garden to share.  A life to live in full should be complete; that is my realization; that is my desire.  Thanks in advance if you do this.

Finally, the amazing thing is that God’s instructions go even deeper and His word – as usual – has the capacity to plant the seed of hope.  He says 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."

May we, as immigrants, learn to seek and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city where we are to be settled down.  May we become real missionaries, real agents of peace and prosperity… may our fully presence in this city be strengthened by eternal roots in Heaven and be demonstrated by practical roots in this land… may those practical roots carry a blessing in them, a blessing given by God in places far away, a blessing that helps to heal this land.