Even in captivity, the Lord promised he would not forget his people. He had a purpose in putting his people through the fire.  He wanted them to seek him.  He wanted His children to come back to Him.

Jeremiah 29:12-14 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

When we get a little backsliden at times and stray from the Lord, He is waiting for us to return to Him.  If you are going through trials and tribulations, it may just be the Lord wants you to come back.  In all this, the Lord does not forget you.  There are a few things we can learn from this passage about how we should return to the Lord.

1. Realize You Are Wrong – Before you will ever come back to the Lord, you must first realize you are wrong.  You have to have your sin revealed to you.  This can come from preaching, reading the Bible, conviction, or a rebuke from a faithful friend.  Others can see it long before you.  Until it is obvious to you, you will not change.  Getting out of church or not reading your Bible definitely reduces your chances of getting to step one.
2. Seek the Lord – Once we see our sin, we have to call upon the Lord.  You will be driven to pray and seek the Lord.  When we do pray, we have a promise that the Lord will hearken or listen to us.  When we seek the Lord, we will find Him.
3. Search With All Your Heart – Sometimes we just need to stay at it even when it seems like He is not listening.  We need to keep searching or looking for the Lord.  When God hides himself from us, He only hides from us for a short time.  When we look with a right heart and we use all our heart to look, the Lord promises we will find him.  When we look with all our heart, the Lord will turn and remove us from our captivity.

Photo by katerha