Into this chaos of confusion and lack of control, Jeremiah speaks a word from God which tells the people to live, to build, to plant, to seek, to serve. Into this chaos of the unfamiliar, Jeremiah speaks a word from God which calls them to be the people God created and called them to be, because in all things, through all things, God’s grace will always be sufficient, because in all things, through all things, God’s love will always surround us.
August 9, 2026
Finding God in the Chaos: Listening to the Still, Small Voice
Part 2: “In the midst of the unfamiliar, there is the familiar”
Jeremiah 29:1-7, 11-13
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Jeremiah 29:1-7, 11-13
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. 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. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams that you dream, or it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord. For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
In the midst of the unfamiliar, there is the familiar Jeremiah 29:1-7, 11-13
It worked so well last week that I thought we might try it again, having everyone participate in the process of seeking God’s wisdom and word. We are going to put up a picture and invited everyone to tell me what they see…What stands out to you? How does it make you feel? What was your first reaction to this picture? (show first picture)
(show second picture)
Now tell me what you see. How is your reaction different to this picture? What comes to mind when you see this picture?
As we may recognize, this image is Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, one of his most famous and familiar paintings. Yet we were unable to experience those feelings of familiarity because we were only focused on one part of the picture. When we were invited to step back, the vision before us expanded. We saw light. We saw life. We saw God’s creative Spirit swirling and moving. We stepped back and saw, we recognized the familiar in the unfamiliar.
This sense of limited vision resonates with our text for today. As we may remember, at this point in the Book of Jeremiah, the community had been torn apart. Some of the people were taken into exile while others were left behind. Separation, confusion, despair filled the people’s hearts and minds, especially in the ones who had been taken into exile. They were living in circumstances which they did not choose, circumstances which they could not control. They were separated from all that was familiar, separated from the very things which defined them which gave them agency … .their homeland, their loved ones, their religious institutions, even their independence and identity…all taken from them in a blink of an eye. Everything about their new reality was unfamiliar to them. Their very existence was infused with a sense of loss and grief. Nothing made sense anymore. Everything they had trusted to sustain them, to protect them, to keep them safe and secure, everything they had relied on, depended on, counted on was all taken away in an instant and they were left with nothing. They were left with no sense of hope, no sense of purpose, no point to it all. They just wanted to go back…go back to a time when life made sense, go back to how things used to be, go back to when life was comfortable.
In that moment, they wanted to close their eyes, cover their ears, shut off their very being to this unfamiliar reality because then…maybe, just maybe if they ignored it long enough, it they pretended none of it happened, if they closed themselves off to this new unfamiliar reality, then maybe just maybe everything could and would go back to the way things used to be, to way things had been, to the way things were before the despair, confusion, and lack of control ripped their community apart. In that moment, they needed, they wanted some word of hope…
And into this unfamiliar reality, Jeremiah speaks. Sure, it may not have been the word they wanted. But it was the word they needed. Because Jeremiah speaks a word that reminds them that God’s presence is not limited by their circumstances. He speaks a word which tells them that God is not absent just because their circumstances have changed.
Into this chaos of confusion and lack of control, Jeremiah speaks a word from God which tells the people to live, to build, to plant, to seek, to serve. Into this chaos of the unfamiliar, Jeremiah speaks a word from God which calls them to be the people God created and called them to be, because in all things, through all things, God’s grace will always be sufficient, because in all things, through all things, God’s love will always surround us. Into this chaos which rocked the people to their very core, Jeremiah speaks a word from God, telling them, love and light will always have the last word.
In the midst of this unfamiliar reality, Jeremiah invites the people to find the familiar by stepping back and expanding their vision of what is possible. God is still there. And nothing, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can or will be able to separate them from the love of God. No amount of chaos, no amount of circumstances beyond our control, no awful news which shatters us and leaves us drowning in despair, will ever change that. In all things, through all things, God is here with us. Through the darkest valley to the highest mountain top, God is still here with us. Even when nothing makes sense anymore and fear has gripped our hearts, God is there.
In this chaos of the unfamiliar, Jeremiah reminds the people of the one true constant in our lives…change happens. The landscape changes. Relationships change. Communities change. Life changes. Yet through it all, God’s presence remains. Sit with that for a moment. Let that soak into your very being. Let it take root into your heart and mind. Know that in the midst of the unfamiliar, there is something familiar: God’s presence, God’s love, and God’s grace wherever we are.
You see, faith is not about quick fixes. Nor is it a promise to take away the pain nor does it deny that there are just some crappy circumstances which happen in life which are beyond our control. What faith is a promise…a promise that God is with God’s people for the long haul, a promise that love and light will always have the last world, a promise that when we have to adjust to painful circumstances in our lives, in our communities, or in our world, we don’t have to do it alone. Faith promises us that our God is here with us, that our God is moving in and among us, that our God is inviting us to find the familiar in the unfamiliar so that we can thrive and not just survive.
What Jeremiah reminds the people, what he reminds us of again today is that God meets us where we are and shows us how to live faithfully wherever we are, because we know the plans God has for us, plans for our welfare and not for harm, plans to give us a future with hope, plans which remind us time and time again, death and destruction will not be the last word. In all things, through all things, as people of faith, we can find the familiar in the midst of the unfamiliar because we know, God is here, expanding our vision of what is possible, calling us to thrive and not just survive, inviting us to not pine for what was but to look for what is. Because when we do that, we experience hope. We experience light. We experience the creative Spirit of God swirling, and moving among us, bringing us back to life. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, August 9, 2026 – In the midst of the unfamiliar, there is the familiar Jeremiah 29: 1-7, 11-13.
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