The Presence: 21 Day Devotional: Day 16

April 29th, 2025
by Matt Dudley

DAY #16

Key Verse:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

Extended Text:

Jeremiah 29:10-14

Reflection:

It has been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the entire world. Everyone felt the pressure of the time: uncertainty, societal upheaval, tension, and most of all, isolation. It was a post-modern exile, but rather than being forced from our homes by an invading army, we were sent into our homes by an invisible enemy. It was an especially difficult time for local churches, and especially for those of us that lead in them. When the primary thrust of the church is to gather people together to worship God in community, what do we do when we’re told not to meet together? Regardless of what you, and your church did during this period, one thing is certain: it was not church as usual.

Trying situations can produce clarity, given enough time. The gift of exile (be it in Babylon, or your living room) is the reminder of a simple promise: God’s presence is as close as your next prayer. Allow the calamity that surrounds you to drive you to this clarity: you need God’s presence.

If everything around you is chaos; you need His presence.
If everything around you is beauty; you need His presence.
Let’s not waste our exile. Let the pressures you are under bring you to your knees, where you can seek God earnestly, knowing that He will be found.

3 Questions To Consider:

Have you experienced, “exile seasons,” times when you felt like the rug was ripped out from under you? How did you respond to those experiences?
The Babylonian exile was a part of God’s plan for Israel. How has God used your hardest seasons to shape you?
How does knowing that God is present, even in your most difficult seasons, make you feel?