In Jeremiah 29: 4-7, the Word of the Lord came to the captives in Babylon. They were to “seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives and to pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof, ye shall have peace (vs. 7).

They did not want to be in Babylon. They wanted to be home in Jerusalem. We would too! The life they once knew was gone. Things were different and difficult. But the Lord asked them to pray for the peace of that city so that they would also have peace. The Holy One wanted His people to seek Him where they were despite their circumstances. If they would, He would bless them where they were.

The Lord will do the same for us. There are times in life that we find ourselves in a place where we would rather not be. But we are there and there is nothing we can do to change it. What are we to do? We have two choices. We can become enslaved by bitterness and regret or we can seek the Lord where we are and honor Him there.

If we determine to seek the Lord, He will use those circumstances to work something good into our lives that could never have been done any other way. In other words, God will both redeem and bless in the midst of those circumstances if we allow Him. The greatest example of that is Paul the Apostle. He did not want to be in prison. He would rather be free to minister outside. But while in prison, God used him to write much of the New Testament that blesses and encourages us today. With God, nothing is ever wasted. So, seek the Lord where you are. He is at work in the midst of it.