Get Real November 16 Devotional
November 16, 2024
JEREMIAH 29:1-2 | 1 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.
Jeremiah, the great prophet, sent word to the exiles in Babylon. It was a countercultural and radical message: there is opportunity in disaster. To the people who wrote Psalm 137, he said, in effect, “don’t wallow in your grief, trust the good that God can do in, though, and beyond this disaster and your suffering!”
Thomas Edison developed key technology for electric power generation, communication, sound recording, motion pictures, the phonograph, and the light bulb. He held over 1,000 patents and developed the first industrial research lab in West Orange, New Jersey. On December 9, 1914 half the lab was destroyed in a fire. What a disaster! Edison commented that although many ideas and much research was lost, the event also “burned up all my mistakes,” giving him a chance to begin in a fresh way. Opportunity in importunity.
Have you ever found blessing in disaster or opportunity in trouble?
