Sermon: Suffering of Believers and Plan of God
Bible Passage: Jeremiah 29:10-14

I. The state of the recipients of Jeremiah 29:11-14; Lam 1–5

1. Displaced in a foreign land

a. Humiliation
b. Physical, mental, and emotional sufferings

2. Unpleasant living conditions and lack of freedom
3. Despair (loss of hope and future)
4. Apparent absence of God (no Temple, no sacrifices, no priests, no sacred city, etc. Prior to their Exile, they identified their religion with these elements) (something like the book of Lamentation)
5. Gloomy present

II. God’s take on their state (verse 11)

1. The events were not accidental or for the bad of the people
2. God was sovereignly in control of their situation
3. At the appropriate time, He would reverse their predicament

III. Until God changes the apparent difficult days, the people of Judah must (vv 12-13)

IV. God will become available to them in the place of displacement and in a state of despair (verse 14)

1. Restore  (two times)
2. Gather

V. Through Jesus, God the Father continues to reach out to the hopeless and those who are in despair and makes Himself available to them.

Take Away:

With prayer and worship, prepare yourself for God’s plan to happen out of your situation