Ever been stuck in a job, or class at school, or a season of life you’ve desperately wanted out of, repeatedly praying, “God, get me out of here!”?

Me too.

Did you know there are numerous examples of this in the Bible?  Here’s just one:

We find a familiar story in the book of Genesis. Jacob (who would be renamed “Israel”) had twelve sons, one of whom was named Joseph. He was despised by his brothers – so severely they actually made a plan to murder him. Long story short, they ended up selling him to human-traffickers who, in turn, sold him into slavery in Egypt.

As you can imagine, Joseph cried out to God, “Get me out of here!”  But, God did not. (Genesis 37-50)

This is vitally important:

Don’t confuse God’s unwillingness to remove you from “hard soil” in which he’s planted you – with him ignoring your prayers. That’s a lie hissed into your mind by the “father of lies”, Satan. (Cf. John 8:44)

Joseph made the hard decision to bloom where he was planted. In other words, he chose to focus on God’s faithfulness and sovereignty. As a result, God gave Joseph favor with his superiors. So much so, he eventually rose to the position of second in command over all Egypt, second only to Pharaoh, himself.

Centuries later, after the remainder of rebellious Israel had been taken into Babylonian exile, they were all hoping for a “quick fix,” begging God to let them go back home.  (“Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem,” the psalmist cried out to God. – 137:1)

God instructed Jeremiah to write the Jewish exiles a letter. Here’s what God told him to write – it was not what the homesick Jews expected:

“Build homes, and plan to stay…. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren…. Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” (29:5-7)

Translation: “You’re not going anywhere anytime soon; bloom where I’ve planted you. Pray for those with whom I’ve planted you. And watch what I can do. Trust me.”

There are other stories of “blooming where you’re planted” you can read about when you have time. There’s Daniel, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, all of whom ended up in a place they did not want to be. However, they all made the hard decision to humble themselves before God and bloom where they had been planted. And that made all the difference.

Attitude and perspective go hand in hand. When we humbly ask God to adjust our attitude, although our environment doesn’t change, we do. Then, God begins to open our eyes to the reason he planted us there in the first place.

I finish with this true story:

When I was a youth pastor, a few days after school began in August a high school student was bemoaning how they were fairly certain they were the only Christian in a particular class. They told me of the vile profanity that filled the room. I looked at them and said, “Congratulations. God has chosen you – you! – to represent him among those students. Bear his light – the faintest light can dispel the thickest darkness. Satan is furious you are in that class. Yet, he is powerless to do anything about it. Bloom where you’re planted.”

In a tough place? Bloom where you’re planted.

nw