My youngest begins college next week!  We are packing and planning and doing all the things. As soon as the new students appear on campus, a series of required orientations will begin as the university does what it can to ensure a strong start for these young people on the higher education journey. A quick glance at my daughter’s itinerary revealed university orientation, freshmen orientation, and separate orientations for on-campus students and commuters.  

An orientation is a kind of introduction, given to guide someone in the process of adjusting to new surroundings, activities, or employment. Did you know God provided an orientation for His people when they were exiled to Babylon? He used the prophet Jeremiah to tell them what He expected of them in this new reality, and how they were to live. 

“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 their 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.” (Jeremiah 29:4-6)  

Three basic instructions stand out:   

1. Build and plant.  
2. Live in what you’ve built and eat what you’ve grown. 
3. Grow. Increase. (Do not decrease.) 

He wants them to invest in the place where they are, to be sustained by that work, and to generally live the way they would if they were still in Jerusalem. There’s nothing in these instructions about Survival Mode, about gritting their teeth and getting through it (a method I personally have employed on several occasions).  

“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.” (Jeremiah 29:7) 

Exile is rarely a chosen reality. It may be a season of grief or trouble, an empty nest, treatment for illness, fallout from a broken relationship, etc. Are you in an exile-like place right now? God has given an orientation for it. Look around. Try to engage. Build and plant and keep going. Seek the welfare of those in place where you are and trust Him to give the increase.  

Growing things in the dark is His specialty.   

If you’re not sure what this looks like in your current season, consider talking through it with a trusted friend or pastor. Pray and ask God for guidance and opportunity. One of the greatest promises we find in the Bible: when we ask God for wisdom, his answer is always YES! (James 1:5) 

By Lori Barkley 

Lori and her husband Jim attend the Armstrong Mill campus where she serves as a deacon. They have two daughters in college, Brynn and Katy.