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Have you ever felt as if something that God was asking you to do didn't make sense?
I happened to me. My cousin in Czechia messaged me to ask if we could take her 16-year-old daughter for a month the following summer. She wasn't doing well in her English classes at school, and Katka felt that the only way to help her was to put her into a situation where she would be forced to speak the language around her. Katka herself came to Canada around the same age, and mostly stayed with my brother, where she took an ESL (English as a Second Language) course at the university. She is able to converse in English now.
Right away, I felt in my heart that it was a great idea. I knew my husband would be on board with it. He likes this kind of challenge. But after a while, I began to doubt. How could we seventy-something-year-olds have a teenager invade our space for a whole four weeks? Did we have the energy to shift our lifestyle to accommodate a young person day in and day out? I didn't know what Katka expected re airfare. I wanted to talk to my brother about it, but he was away.
God also asked the prophet Jeremiah to do something that sounded really illogical. “Jerusalem was then under siege from the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace.” (Jeremiah 32:2 NLT) God sent Jeremiah a message: “Then, just as the Lord had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the Lord.” (Jeremiah 32:7 NLT)
It seemed foolish to Jeremiah to buy a field when he was about to go into exile. This purchase would not benefit him personally. Jerusalem would soon be conquered by the Babylonians. Yet Jeremiah firmly believed that God told him to make such a seemingly rash purchase. Jeremiah trusted God, and bought the field.
After he made his decision, Jeremiah began to second-guess himself. He consequently prayed to the Lord. He first listed all His attributes, and remembered how He had helped the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. “Nothing is too hard for you,” said Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 32:17b NLT) The Lord had been telling Jeremiah to invest, that buying the land was an investment. In the future, the people of Judah would return to their land.
I had to remind myself of all the promises of God. I had to remember that “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) I had to remember that I was making an investment that would have eternal influence in the life of a young person. Not necessarily the learning of a language, but the results of sharing our lives with her. Despite not knowing the outcome, I had peace with my decision.
There are times when we just have to trust God. We can't see the big picture, as He does. We just have to go by the past experiences in our Christian life, and realize God is totally trustworthy. Will you trust Him?
By the way, Katka's idea took a different turn than we expected. Terry and I ended up going to the Czech Republic ourselves, instead of Katka's daughter coming to us! The idea was to speak English as much as possible, and the whole family benefited. As a bonus, we caught a glimpse into a teenager's life. This teenager is eager now to come and visit us in the future.
Lord, help us to trust You, even when circumstances don't make sense. You are faithful! Amen.
Alice Burnett
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