Time-out

If you have been around small children for any amount of time you have experienced the time-out. Time-out is the place where we send our children to learn a lesson such as what not to do, what they should be doing or for being disrespectful. Basically, if it has upset a parent or teacher, they've inevitably sat in time-out because of it.

We don't put our children in time-out to be cruel to them. They are there to learn a lesson. It is driven by our love for them. We want what is best for them in the long run, even if we make them upset with us in the present.

Israel was always disobeying God and He would discipline them over and over again. We see it throughout the Old Testament in the Bible. In the twenty-ninth chapter of Jeremiah, God has placed Israel in a time-out; they've been exiled to Babylon for 70 years. Now that is a long time-out!

He sends a letter to the Israelites through His prophet Jeremiah. This Letter gives them God's instructions while they're in exile. He tells them to live their lives out in Babylon; build homes, plant gardens, marry off your daughters and to pray for peace and prosperity for the city of Babylon. God also instructs them to not listen to false prophets among them.

The Father's love for His children becomes evident i the eleventh verse and the scriptures that follow:
   "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.^[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

God makes sure that they know He hasn't abandoned them. He has plans for His children. He wants them to know that He is going to take them out of "time-out" when they're ready. He loves them and only has their best interest in heart.

Do you ever feel like you're in time-out? We never like to think that we've been "bad" enough to deserve the hard things of life we have to endure. And sometimes, like our kids, we will blame someone else for our circumstances (I think we give Satan too much credit than he is due). The fact remains that we simply need the correction sometimes and ultimately it was our choices, sometimes choices of others, that put us in our time-out.

BUT, just like Israel, God loves us and only wants what is best of us! He has a plan for our lives, an amazing future in store for us, He has given us a Hope in Jesus Christ that we can embrace! He wants to see us prosper and be blessed!

Israel had to come to a place where they were seeking God with their whole heart. They were seeking Him sincerely. We must also come to the point of seeking God with our whole heart. He promises that we will find Him when we seek him with all our heart! That is an awesome promise!

So, today, if you feel you're in time-out or maybe you know you're on the verge of a time-out (you've felt the warnings...), know that God loves you and only wants what is best for you. Examine your daily actions. Do they reflect a heart and life that is seeking God with everything you are? If not, make the necessary changes.

Crystal Owens
Crystal is a speaker for the Fabulous You Conference. She’s married with 2 girls. Crystal is currently teaching a weekly adult Bible study and a monthly Bible study for Women.