Jeremiah 30:10. "Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, says the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for lo, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid."

I wrote about our coming "exile from home" back in 2021, and it has arrived. I have felt somewhat in exile in my own country for some time now, I think many have. Partly this is because, unlike Israel, my country is not the Promised Land. God has made no covenant with the inhabitants of the United States with regard to our heritage. We were blessed for many years, and it came to seem like we were protected in a special way by God, but when we started turning our backs to Him, He let us go, and we are seeing the consequences of that now. So many do feel in exile in our own country. This should remind us that the our true home here on earth is the Church. God has made a promise that He will see the Church through the raging waters of time, history, and the entire spiritual battle.

Another reason we feel in exile is because we are. The aforementioned spiritual battle is real. This whole world is under the power of the devil, we are born into exile. God's promise to Jacob can and should be read as a promise to us - Fear not, He will eventually lead us home, after we have been chastened in just measure (Jeremiah 30:11). This exile is affecting our children terribly, many of them are going further and further astray. God comforts us about that, as well, when He says He will save our offspring from the land of their captivity.

So even as we are in exile, and even as we watch our children be led into captivity, we should fear not. God is allowing all of this for a reason. He is chastening us, but He will save us from afar, and lead us home, where we will have quite and ease.