For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.” (Jeremiah 30:3 ESV)
Fear Not… Then Return
We have birds in our yard. Some larger birds, and some tiny birds. When the large birds shriek and attack the little birds those little birds panic. They fly in circles, they drop their food-bits, they lose everything and are lost.
But the larger birds are mostly annoying. They leave. And then… the small birds return to what they were doing. If I knew exactly which nearby nest was theirs, I could test this theory.
But I think, after the fear, they go home.
They regain everything they thought they had lost.
Certainly, God’s people in exile felt they had lost everything. Big scary foreigners had attacked, squawked, slashed, and taken. But God tells them that they will go back home. They will regain what they had lost.
That promises echoes and bounces down to us, too. God’s enemies (the flesh, the world, and Satan) shriek and swoop. And in the resulting turmoil it feels like we have lost things. And sometimes, we actually have.
But you are headed home.
Those things that might not be physically replaced will be returned improved. Or rather, WE will be returned to our home, and our homely things, and our homely Father.
Look away from the flying scary things, and look ahead to home.
Fear not, then return.