Jeremiah 29:7
“Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
This verse is part of a letter from the prophet Jeremiah to the Jewish people who had been taken into exile in Babylon. Jeremiah wrote to them around 597 BCE, after the first wave of deportations, to offer guidance and a message from God about how to live in their new, difficult situation.
How might seeking the well-being of our present, often imperfect circumstances, surprisingly contribute to our own sense of peace?