FOLLOWING GOD IN THE UNUSUAL STEP

June 21, 2021

God is a perfect leader. He asks us to follow Him, and often the path makes no human sense to us. But God is always leading to an end ... to that which is redemptive. The question is: will we trust Him when we don't see the endgame?

GOD'S UNUSUAL INSTRUCTION

Jeremiah had been told by God repeatedly what He was about to do to rebellious Israel. He was going to allow the Babylonians to come and take them into captivity and ransack the land.

As that was being revealed to Jeremiah, God gave him an odd instruction.

"The word of the Lord came to me," Jeremiah said. God told him that his nephew was going to come and offer him a field for sale and that Jeremiah was to buy it." (Jeremiah 32:6-7)

Put yourself in Jeremiah's shoes. Knowing what he knew, he could reason that in a matter of weeks—days perhaps—this field was going to be worthless. A terrible investment. It would be a "poor use" of God's money.

But Jeremiah had heard from God. "Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord," He said (Jeremiah 32:8).

Jeremiah was committed to God's instructions above all else, even if it didn't make sense to his human logic.

FURTHER REVELATION

Immediately, God began to reveal what He was also going to do. That, after the Babylonian captivity, He was going to bring His people back to the land. And that a sign of this would be that they would be that "houses and vineyards will again be bought in this land" (vs. 15).

In reality, Jeremiah's land investment would be the smartest financial step possible. But even that was not the point. God wanted Jeremiah's investment to be a sign to him and others of God's faithfulness. That He was bringing judgment, but that He would also bring forgiveness, mercy, and redemption. God was not trying to make Jeremiah wealthy but to reveal His faithfulness.

THE PURPOSE OF THE EXERCISE

The reason we weigh every decision so carefully is that we think we know what's best. And, more telling, we think we know what's best FOR US.

The wise follower understands two things:

1. God's directions are always best. His ways are higher, and thoughts are better than ours. Therefore, he can always be trusted.

2. The purposes of God are always bigger than us. God plans to use everything in our life—our time, resources, affections, relationships, words, etc.—to be a voice to the world of who He is.

If we could ever settle this simple, profound truth, it would put us at absolute peace. We would not be frantic about anything because we had taken understand that God knows exactly what He's doing.

Father, help me to trust You today. Let me obey Your instructions instantly and completely. Prove to the world, through me, the perfection of Your character and the rightness of Your plans.

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