So, I was doing some light reading this morning in the book of Jeremiah, and I had the realization of something. Kind of an ‘aha moment.’
God knows more than I do.
I know, right? Pretty basic stuff. I’ve always known that. But sometimes when you see it in black and white, the revelation of that gets a little bigger and your faith grows a bit more and you stand back and say, “Aha!”
Israel had just been taken captive by the Assyrians, and Judah was about to be captured by the Babylonians. They were pretty much knocking at the door.
And in Jeremiah 32, God tells him to do something that makes no sense to him. He wants him to buy a piece of land. It was his family’s property by law, and God basically told Jeremiah to buy it so that it stayed in his family.
Wait? What? What are You thinking?
That was basically Jeremiah’s response. “Look. I know nothing is too hard for you. You delivered Your people from Egypt and all. You can do signs and wonders and miracles. But Babylon is right outside. They’re about to take us away to their land. And you want me to buy a piece of property? In Israel? That the Babylonians are about to take from me? That I will never live on? What are You thinking? It doesn’t make any sense.”
But…like a good little prophet, Jeremiah obeyed and bought the property. It didn’t make sense, but he did it anyway.
Verse 36 was my Aha Moment.
“Now I want to say something more about this city. You have been saying, ‘It will fall to the king of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.’ But this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
He’s basically telling Jeremiah, “You’ve been saying Babylon is going to take Israel down. And that’s true. I’ve been saying it Myself. But look over here. I’m not done talking. That is NOT the end!”
God goes on to tell him, “I can see into the future. Seventy years down the road and beyond. And I’m going to bring My people back. They’ll live here again. And you’ll be glad you obeyed and bought that land. You’re gonna need it.”
Jeremiah couldn’t see past the invasion and captivity, but God could see so much farther.
Jeremiah stopped talking at war and famine and captivity, but God just kept on talking.
Sometimes we don’t understand. Sometimes we can’t see past what’s going on right here. Right now. Right in front of us. And it doesn’t look good. And that’s what we say. We say what we see.
But we need to look up and find out what God sees. Because He can see so much farther into the future. He sees the victory. The answer. He sees us coming out of the trial and into a place of abundance and peace and rest.
A place of healing. A place of prosperity. A place of destiny.
It’s best if we just keep on talking. Past the problem. The crisis. What we see. It’s best if we just keep on talking until we’re saying what God says and agreeing with Him.
(On a side note: I love that Jeremiah obeyed, even though he didn’t understand. Even though it didn’t make sense. God told Him to do it because He knew the future and knew Jeremiah would need that land when they came home.
Sometimes He speaks things to our hearts that we don’t understand. His plans don’t always make sense. Move here. Stay here. Give here. Invest here.
Wait! What? Why? That doesn’t make sense?
It doesn’t have to make sense. We just need to remember God sees what we cannot, and if He spoke it, He has a reason. He knows we’ll need it. He knows where we need to be and what we need to be doing to walk into destiny.)
Trust and obey and just keep on talking…even when you don’t understand.
I love that in chapter 33 Jeremiah went on to declare what God had said. He couldn’t see it, but he trusted God. And he spoke.
God knows what He’s talking about, and He’s leading us into a marvelous destiny. He’s already in our tomorrow…and it is so good.
It’s best if we just keep on talking…until we agree with God. He pretty much knows what He’s talking about. He knows more than we do after all! Aha!