Shift: Letting Go and Leading On

You can miss your future by staring at your past. We open with Psalm 137’s heartbreaking scene by the rivers of Babylon, where God’s people grieve what they lost and feel like they have no song left. Then we pivot to Jeremiah 29, where God does something almost shocking: He tells exiles to build houses, plant gardens, marry, multiply, and seek the welfare of the very city they didn’t choose. 

We call this series Shift, Letting Go and Leading On, because spiritual growth often looks like changing gears. Using the vivid metaphor of a manual transmission, we talk about what happens when you stay in first gear too long: you start grinding, you lose momentum, and you wear yourself out. If you’ve been stuck in nostalgia, shame, fear, or disappointment, this message is a push toward movement, not denial. 

We also tackle a hard but hopeful truth: God says, “Where you are, you are because I sent you.” That reframes the season as correction and discipline, not pointless pain. Sometimes God blesses by subtracting, like pruning a plant so it can live and thrive. We connect that to relationships, habits, finances, health, and church life, and we explain why acceptance is not giving up, it’s the first step to real change. 

Finally, we put Jeremiah 29:11 back in context, talk about God’s timing, and end with a clear invitation to prayer for anyone ready to shift. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review. What area of your life needs a gear change right now?

Transcript

Psalm 137 Lament In Exile

SPEAKER_00 0:34

May it be a sweet sweet my voice no my so rejoice take joy my known no more nothing more we have been blam Psalm one thirty seven Psalm one hundred and thirty seven scripture says by the rivers of Babylon there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps for there our captors demanded of us songs and our tormentors mirth, saying Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

Anderson George 3:19

How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth. If I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy, remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, who said raise it, raise it to its very foundation. O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one. How blessed will be the one who repays you with the recompense with which you have repaid us. How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock.

Jeremiah 29 Letter To Exiles

Anderson George 4:22

Now meet me in Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine, and we'll start at verse number four. Jeremiah twenty-nine commencing at verse number four. 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, and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city which I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will have welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them, declares the Lord. For thus says the Lord, when seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place. If you read that with me, say amen.

Series Launch Time To Shift

Anderson George 6:15

Ah, on this morning I want to begin a new series entitled Shift, Letting Go and Leading On. Leaning in. And so all throughout this series, all I want you to do is shift. That's all I want you to do. Just shift. And to get you shifted, let's just start right now. Look to someone next to you. If you have someone next to you and tell them it's time to shift. Now, for those of you who pretended like you said it, say it for real now. Look to someone next to you and tell them it's time to shift. It's time to shift. Shift, shift, shift. That's the word shift. Shift, shift.

Learning Gears Through Manual Driving

Anderson George 7:16

When I think of this word, several things comes to my mind. When I think of shift, I remember when I first learned to drive. When I first learned to drive, we we didn't have the fancy cars we we have now. We we have cars. I don't feel like I'm driving anymore, as opposed to when I first learned to drive. My car does everything for me. I I push a button and it it starts. I I put it in the gear I want it to. I hit cruise control and I go to sleep for three hours. That's that's that's what happens when I drive from Sisi to Mineral Springs. My car does everything. I no longer remember to turn on the headlights because there's auto lights, they're time running lights. I know I don't remember anything. My car does everything for me now. My car tells me when to turn left, when to turn right, it tells me when to break. I don't do anything in my car, but in the good old days, in the good old days, we had a vehicle that we would call a standard or manual transmission. And in those good old days, you had three pedals on your ground. One was for gas, one was for brake, and the other one was the clutch. And what would happen is uh when you hit a stretch of road, uh, you would start off in the first gear, but over time, as you built speed, you needed to shift. Yes. Because now it was time for you to take it up a level. It was now time for you to get into second gear, and then over time you would build more speed, and you you need again to shift because uh you're no longer in second gear, it was time to go into third gear, and if you had enough road, it there was time to shift into fourth and into fifth gear, and then I realized that I didn't just have to shift up when there were cars in front of me when I was coming to a roundabout or a traffic light, I would have to shift down. And driving one of those vehicles, it was necessary for you to know when to shift. I remember, I remember I was about 10 years old when my dad first took me out in a vehicle and said, son, let's make a block. I want to teach you how to drive. And I remember I didn't understand what it meant to shift. All I knew was how to go, and so I got into first gear and I went, but I was going for too long in first gear, and the car was not able to do what I wanted it to do. Eventually, the car starts making a funny noise at me, and my dad said that's only because you're in the wrong gear, it's time for you to shift, and so I had to learn to listen to my vehicle so I could know when was the appropriate time to shift. I realize the way life is ordered. My life is like seasons, and you need to know what season of life you're in because you need to oh you're almost there. You need to shift to the appropriate gear for the season that you're in.

Israel Stuck By Babylon’s Rivers

Anderson George 11:42

We are in Psalm 137 and Jeremiah at the same time, and there is a problem in this text because Israel was not ready to shift. To understand what Yahweh is saying in Jeremiah, we need to revisit what Israel said in Psalm. Israel is currently in Babylonian captivity, Israel was just devastated by Babylon, as Babylon waged war on them. Babylon razed the city, ransacked the city, destroyed the temple, killed thousands, and deported the rest as slaves, as exiles into the nation of Babylon. These remaining slaves of Israel, they are currently on the river. This apparently was where they would meet when they weren't working. And they're on the river, and they're mourning what has happened in their past. Israel is on the river, and they're complaining about what was. They're complaining about what used to be, they're crying over the destruction of Jerusalem. While they are crying, Babylon, their tormentors are telling them, sing to us a song of Zion, sing to us a song that you would normally sing when you were back home. And then they said, How could we sing? We no longer have a home, we no longer have the temple, we are now slaves, we are now in this despicable situation, our favor has turned, our luck has changed, we are now slaves. How could we sing a happy song in this sad situation? We can't sing the songs of Zion. That's their situation. They are mourning, they are lamenting what has happened to them that has led them to be where they are right now. Israel is without hope. Israel no longer believes that there is good for them. They see themselves as destitute and devastated. They no longer have a song in their heart, they have nothing but cries, laments, and mourning. It is simultaneously while Israel is experiencing this, that God speaks to Jeremiah and he tells Jeremiah, write a letter and send it to Israel, who is in exile in Babylon, and tell them these are my words.

Build And Plant In The Wrong Place

Anderson George 15:18

Build. Marry. Live. You'll miss it. Come here, Church. You were supposed to be shocked at that. Let me tell you why you're supposed to be shocked because Babylon is not home. You're supposed to be shocked because Babylon is not my people. Babylon has no temple for Yahweh. Babylon is not Israel. Babylon is not the promised land. Babylon has no milk and honey. Babylon is not where I'm meant to be. I'm meant to be somewhere else. So how could God tell me when I'm in the wrong place that I should build and get comfortable? God is telling me to shift. But I don't understand because He's telling me to shift in a place where I don't think I should be shifting. Let me make this make sense for some of you. What happens is every now and then many of us could look back and we look back at what we think are the glory days. We look back with rose-tinted glasses, and we look back at a time where things were better and easier. And somehow, as we look back, we fail to realize it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. There were some thorns there as well. There were some stormy clouds. It wasn't always good and perfect in the good old days. Could I be real for two seconds? I won't do it without your permission. Could I be real for two seconds? It's possible that even as a church, you could look back and think that your best years were behind you. We remember when we were larger, we remember when we sounded better, we remember when the room was filled, we remember, and so now you're in a place where you're stuck because all you're doing is looking, looking back, complaining, lamenting, crying over what was, while missing that God is still God in every place, in every season that you find yourself in. So He was God when it was then, but He's still God in your now. And even though now no longer looks like then, God is still God and is still able to shift and to do a great thing in us. I just need three people to believe that, then I'm done. You don't, it doesn't have to look like it did back then. God could do more with less. God could do greater with smaller, God could even take smaller and make it greater than it was before. The problem is not what it was, the problem is I'm still holding on to what was, so I have no room for what will be. And so the only thing that you need to do now is you won't miss it. See, God already knows what he wants to do. God has it already set up, God has it already planned. God is saying five years ago, that was second gear. I want to take you into your fourth gear. But between second gear and fourth gear is third. You need to shift, let go of second, move into third, so I could then take you into fourth. It's in the text. Watch this. In Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse number three, says the letter was sent by the hand of Elisar, the son of Shaphan, and Gomariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to

God Sent You Here For Correction

Anderson George 20:19

Babylon. Don't miss this. The letter begins by saying, Where you are, you are because I sent you. Babylon is considered the place of their correction, not punishment, the place of discipline, the place of correction. They are there now because Yahweh sent them there. I don't want you to miss this. Yahweh is establishing that wherever Israel finds themselves, he is God enough that it had to happen on his watch, which means he allowed it. Where you are now, if you're a child of God, if you're faithful, if you're walking in purpose, where you are now is not an accident. You are there because God either caused it or he allowed it. Come here, come here, come here, come here. Israel sinned, Israel did wrong, and being in Babylon now is a result of their walking disorderly, of their misconduct and behavior. But while it is a consequence, it's a consequence that Yahweh allowed. It may very well be that your own pride, your own foolishness, your own wrongdoing, your own smarts and intellect may be also a contributing factor in where you are right now, but it's also because Yahweh said it to be so. Yahweh could have said no to Babylon. He did at several instances before. But this time he said, I'll not stop them. This time he said, I'll allow it to happen. Israel, you done goofed. Israel, you messed up. And because you messed up, I'm sending Babylon. I'll allow them to cause destruction. I'll allow them to do harm. I'll allow them to put you in this position that you are in now. Now, I'm happy for that. Here's why. Here's where I'm happy. To some of us, it could sound like God just allowed negativity to happen to Israel. But that's only if you look at it from Psalm 137. If you keep reading, you would realize that every now and then God says, I'm a good God. And a good God disciplines because he's trying to get better from his children. And so what you see now as hardship is not for your destruction. What you see now as a difficult time, what you see now as a dark season, what you see now as good times beyond you is not meant for your bad, but actually for your good. See what happens is we are quick to lament all the turn of events in our lives. We're quick to complain when things turn against us because we believe that everything that turns against us is negative. Come here, church. God's blessing is not always addition, sometimes it's subtraction. I wish I had a church. Sometimes the way God blesses is that he has to remove certain things in and around me so that I could thrive.

Pruning Loss That Protects Growth

Anderson George 25:01

Let me give it to you agriculturally first. There's a pepper plant I tried growing, and I placed it in a trough, and what I didn't realize was there were other things trying to grow around my pepper plant. And these other things I took them as innocent and harmless until they began growing, and they were growing so close to my plant that my plant is now being suffocated. And so what I had to do was remove the growth, but there happened to be a vine that came up from nowhere and wrapped itself around my pepper plant. And I tried to remove the vine that was now tangled up in my plant without killing my plant. But there was one point where it was so tangled up I couldn't tell where the vine began, where it ended, and where to dissect it from my plant. So I had to make a few prunings. Oh, I wish I had a change. If the plant had feelings, it would say ouch. Because right there and then what I did was cut off some of it. But I'm cutting off some of it, not because I'm trying to kill it, but because I want it to live. Sometimes God removes from your life not because he wants you lesser, but because he wants you greater, and what you think is a decrease is actually a blessing from God for increase. Sometimes you think you lost a friend when God was protecting you from an enemy. Have you ever prayed? Is there anybody in the house who ever said, God bless me and protect me from dangers seen and unseen, and then you lost a few friends? You ever prayed that prayer? God bless me from trouble around me, and then some friends just disappeared, and you're thinking that you've lost some good relationships, not realizing God was pruning so that you could be blessed, so that you could grow. Not every negative event is actually negative. We just don't always see it from God's perspective. God's first word to them is you are where you are because I sent you. Before you read anything else, you should be able to feel comfortable in knowing that God has me where He has me. In my medical condition, God has me there. In my financial condition, God has me there. In my marital situation, God has me there. In my employment situation, God has me there. Wherever you find yourself, if you are a child of God, God has you there. He may have sent you, but even if he sent you, he still has you. That's the first thing he tells them. I sent you there.

Acceptance Before Change Is Possible

Anderson George 29:18

But then the second word he said is in verse 5: Build, build houses and live in them, plant gardens, eat, produce, take wives, become the father of sons. Let me break this down for you. This is God saying, accept where you are. I understand it's not Israel. I understand you're no longer in the land flowing with milk and honey. I understand things are not favorable anymore. You can't keep dwelling on the past. At some point, you need to accept what is. At some point, you need to pray the serenity prayer. You all know the serenity prayer? There's a part of that prayer that says, Lord, not just help me to change the things that I can, but to accept the things I can't. At some point in your shifting, you need to accept it's no longer like I wanted it. It's no longer like it used to be, it's no longer the way I expected it to be. It is what it is. Yeah. It's my favorite phrase. Most of my friends, including my wife, get nauseous every time I say it. But then I ask them, what else do you want me to say? At some point, you just have to conclude it is what it is. It's not what it used to be. It's not what I want it to be. It is what it is. God is saying, accept where you are. Part of accepting where you are is making it possible for things to change. You can't change without accepting where you are. Let me give it to you philosophically, and I'll give it to you spiritually. Philosophically, you could say as much as you want that you could change anytime you want to. But you will never change until you accept the fact that you do need to change. Let me give an example. I had a grandfather who drank until it killed him. That's not even a joke. He died with a bottle in his hand. And in his latter years, when we saw what alcohol was doing to him, we tried to get him to stop. And he told us every time I could stop whenever I want to. Because he never accepted that he needed to stop. Until he came to recognize that he needed to stop. He was never in a position to actually stop. Let me give it to you spiritually. Those that are well don't need a physician. When Jesus said that, he was talking to sick people. But these sick persons thought they were whole. And so he told them, Those that are whole don't need a physician. But I came to seek and to save that which was lost. See, until you accept, without Christ, I'm lost, without Christ, I'm sick. Without his help, I can't get better. Without God in my life, I am nothing but a wretch. Until you accept that, you're not in a position to actually shift to be where God wants you to be. And so God tells them, I know you're no longer in the promised land. I know you no longer have your own house and land and fruit trees. I know you're no longer in a comfortable space, but you are still alive. You still have hope. You still have opportunity. It may not look the way you envisioned it, but there is still hope for you. Start accepting where you are, recognize that you are still with me. I am still with you. I could always turn it around for good and make it better. There's a song, and it says, it won't always be like this. The Lord will perfect that concerning me. Sooner or later, it'll turn in my favor. He's turning it around for me. You need to be able to say that before he turns it around. You need to be able to say that while you're waiting. You need to be able to say that before he gets you to fourth gear or fifth gear, you are still not yet whole. You are still not yet healed. You may be in captivity spiritually, but be able in captivity to believe it won't always be like this. It won't always. Let me use Jimmy. Jimmy had to be telling himself constantly, it won't always be like this. I'm using a crutch knob, but one day I'll stand back up on my own two feet. It won't always be like this. I need to take things slow every now and then, but eventually I'll get better. I can bend it 90 degrees now, but it won't always be like this. God will turn it around. But that's all right. You need to believe that it won't always be like this. Accept where you are, build. But then the last verse, verse 10, he says, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon.

Seventy Years And Perfect Timing

Anderson George 36:50

I don't have time, but if I did, seventy years here is literal but also figurative. The word, the number seven, has always been symbolic in scripture. Seventy years here means when the time is right, when it's perfect, when you are in the right season. When the time is right, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place. Oh, that's a good word. That's a good word, church. Watch this. Yahweh said, I need you to accept where you are, but be ready to shift again. Oh, you miss it. See, we were in Israel, but then we shifted to this place that we no longer believe is good or favorable. God says, accept the shift. Accept the shift, but also bear in mind that I'm still working. It's not your final destination, it's just a part of the journey. Accept it, remember, I'm still working because I'm getting ready to shift you again, but I'll only shift you when the time is right. He says when 70 years are completed, when the time is right, when you are actually positioned in the right place, I'll do what I alone would do. I'll bring it back, I'll restore you, I'll make you healthy again. But that is conditional on things being in the right season. And for it to be in the right season, I need to accept what is and let go of what was.

Rearview Mirror Faith And Forward Focus

Anderson George 39:10

I can't move forward looking back. It is no accident that the largest piece of glass in your car is your front windscreen. Every now and then you are expected to glance in your rearview mirror. Every now and then you glance at your wing mirrors, but you are expected to keep your eyes looking forward. You will never make it to your destination if you only look in your review. Don't try it, take my word for it. Take my word for it, don't try it. You will never make it to your destination if you only look in your review. Looking back is only supposed to be momentarily because looking back is to help you keep moving forward. Oh, you'll miss it. The reason why you look back is because you want to ensure that you can continue going forward. Sometimes you're getting ready to shift lanes, and so in order to shift, you may glance back. Not because you're moving back, but you want to make sure what you left is no longer an obstacle to you shifting. I'm preaching, and you only know it. You you want to be able to be sure that when it's time to shift, what you pass is no longer coming to haunt you or to hit you. That's why you look back because it's to help you keep moving forward. Sometimes you look back and you forget that it's only supposed to be a glance. And so you hold on to what you remember from your pastor, hold on to how it used to be. But church, it's time to shift, it's time to say it's no longer how it used to be five years ago. We wish that it was by the rivers of Babylon where we sat down as we remember mineral springs when we were 200, but we're no longer 200. God, it's not the way it used to be, but we know you can still do great things amongst us. We know you could do even greater things amongst us. So, God, we're ready to shift, we're ready to accept where we are, ready to accept that this is part of the process of whatever you're doing to better. God, I'm ready to shift, but not just as a church. You can't be what God wants you to be if you're not ready to shift. Last thing I'll tell you.

Shifting Takes Energy And Commitment

Anderson George 42:59

Shifting requires energy and commitment. Shifting requires energy and commitment. And that required that I paid attention to what I eat, when I eat, and how I exercise. It sounded good in January. I did well in January. But then January became February, February became March, March became April. We're here now. And in this last week, I left my apartment and the sun was 81 degrees. And I was like, this is not weather to shift in. This is not exercising, losing weight weather. So I went back into my apartment and I turned on the AC. On top of not exercising, we didn't have groceries. And I didn't have time to think about what I wanted to cook. So I went into Wally World. Yeah, amen. I went into Wally World. And the first thing I saw was a pack of ramen. And I saw the price. And I'm like, all it takes is three minutes and water for a dollar eighty-seven. If I go get myself some tomatoes and some potatoes and chicken, it will take me a whole lot more than 187 and some water. I kid you not. I had ramen on Wednesday. I had ramen on Thursday. I had ramen by myself because by now Michelia was fed up. On Friday. I came here yesterday. Guess what I had, church? I had ramen yesterday. Because it was easier than putting energy into what was necessary to shift for better. Don't be me. I understand that shifting is hard, but it's necessary. And so I'm not just talking to you as a church. I don't know what season you're in. I don't intimately know what you're going through, which is why I particularly love being able to say this right now that whatever season you're in, it may be that God is waiting for you to shift, and that's why things haven't changed. It's time to shift, church.

Jeremiah 29:11 Needs Its Context

Anderson George 47:08

Many of us know verse 11 of Jeremiah. I'm done. Many of us know verse 11, and we love verse 11. We could quote verse 11 for I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you. We know verse 11. I deliberately did not read 11 because most of us know 11, but not the context that comes before 11. Before God could work out the plans for them, they had to spend 70 years in an unfavorable environment, accepting where they are, but prepared and ready for God to do what he could do when it was the right time. Your fulfillment, God's plan for your life, your potential would never be realized if you're not ready to shift. So, church, it's time to shift.

Prayer Moment And Invitation Forward

Anderson George 48:12

Let's all stand. Let's all stand. Don't sing it. Let's all stand. We're going to pray. We're going to pray. And like I said, I don't know where you are, but I do know every now and then God sends us a nudge to say it's time to move. It's time to move. You've been in first gate too long. You're grinding the gears. You've been in first gear too long. You're wearing out the engine. You've been in this gear long enough. Aren't you ready for what's next? Aren't you ready for better? Are you not ready for your new season for your new season? You've been here long enough. That's next week's lesson. You've been here long enough. Don't miss next week's lesson. But for now, I'm telling you, aren't you fed up of being in the same place? It's time to shift. And it's not that God can't shift you. Sometimes He's just waiting on you to stop saying, woe is me. He's waiting for you to stop saying by the rivers of Babylon where we sat down and we wept as we remembered yesterday and last week and last year and when it was better. I understand it's not what it used to be, but can't you recognize I'm still God? Accept where you are and allow me to do what only I could do. It's time to shift. If you feel stuck spiritually, if you feel that you're just stuck in life, I want to pray with you, I want to pray for you. I don't know the song John has in his heart. I really hope it lines up with the sermon on today. But while we're singing it, this is not Church is done time. While we're singing it, this is prayer time. It's time for you to say, I'm ready to shift. If you're ready to shift, you just meet me on this front row, your left, my right, and we'll pray after the song is done that we shift and God gives the increase, that God blesses and uses us, that he walks us into the plans that he has already prepared for us. It's time to shift, as we sing.