Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. – Jeremiah 24:5, AMP

In Jeremiah 24:5 we find one of the most shocking statements in all of the Bible: the Babylonian captivity was a good thing for the people of Judah.

How can that be? How can having your home ripped from you, having your nation humiliated before your eyes, and having your freedom turned into slavery be good for you? Yet, it was good for the people of Judah. Indeed, it was great, and the reason the captivity was great for the people of Judah is that it forced them to return to the Source of peace, purity, and prosperity that they had abandoned so many years before – God Almighty. Before the Babylonian captivity, Judah was immersed in a lifestyle of wicked idolatry. But through the pain of captivity, God purged the people of this plague, and they found rest in their newfound dependence upon their Creator.

It is when we are in great need that we pursue our God diligently, and sometimes God has to put us in a place of great need to help us abandon the other pursuits in our lives that have replaced Him. It’s never fun to be needy, but it is necessary to help us separate reality – the fact that life is right only when we are living it God’s way – from the surreal – the foolish dream that life will be better when we live it according to our rules rather than God’s.

The next time you are needy, recognize that the purpose of your need is to bring you closer to your Creator. The faster you embrace that purpose, the sooner the need will pass.

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