Jeremiah bought a field. (Jeremiah 32:1-15) Now you tell me, why in the world would a man go out in the middle of a war and use his money to buy a field that an invading army would, within days, come and take over? How about you hold on your cash dude? After all, the Babylonian army was right outside the gate! They were coming! It didn’t look good for them… at all. But, Jeremiah bought a field.

Yes, investing in real estate is usually a wise investment. Buy some land, hang onto it a few years, then sell it to make a profit. But, he didn’t have a few years! He didn’t even have a few days! The Babylonians would soon own all real estate and they would be held captive. Jeremiah, being a prophet, even knew this! Nobody in their right mind would go and buy land in this time! Why then? Had he lost his mind? Was he in complete denial? No. He bought that field for one reason: God told him to. I can only imagine the flack that he got from his friends and family. He bought the field as an act of faith. It was a symbol of faith in His God, despite the fact that it made no sense at all. He knew who held his future as well as the future of his people. It was an act of faith.

The Israelites, no doubt, were afraid. Their whole life was to be turned upside-down. Everything they knew as familiar would be no more. Jeremiah, even being afraid and even though it seemed ridiculous, put his trust in God and bought a field.

This story spoke VOLUMES to me. I am going to share my heart, in hopes that it will speak to some of you. This moving to Thailand thing seems exciting and exhilarating, I am sure. While that is true to some degree, the truth is that after you step out in faith, fear will be knocking at your door. The moment you put your big toe in the water, fear rises up. I am struggling. I am human and fear is a real feeling. I am nervous to leave everything I know and love to go someplace unknown. It’s always so hard to let go of something you know and trust and grab hold of something unknown. When you were a kid, you would play on the monkey bars, right? The thing about monkey bars is that you have to let go of one rung to go to the next one and the next. This is no different. The problem is, it’s not faith.

Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about the things we cannot see.”

We are making this crazy move because God said so. So, we are putting our faith in the knowledge that He knows what will ultimately be best for our family in the end. He sees the future; we do not. The Bible is clear about the fact that we cannot even think or imagine what our life will look like if we put our trust in Him. So with white knuckles, I hang on to that. On to Him.

All of us are going through something. A divorce you never saw coming, kids that are hooked on drugs, cancer, struggles to pay your bills… Whatever it is, I honestly believe we might all need to go buy a “field”. (Not a literal one.) What does that field represent? It represents you trusting God completely with your life and future. All your eggs are in His basket. Jeremiah bought a whole field. He didn’t make a deposit or arrange a payment plan. What’s the cool part? God’s word came true. It always does. Even though Jeremiah would not be alive to see it, God did bring them back where they would establish their life again on that land.

I can’t tell you what it’s going to be for you. Only He can. I can tell you that your “field” needs to be something that doesn’t appear to make sense. It will be something that scares you. Something that, without Him, would be impossible. Jeremiah demonstrated to the people that this captivity would not be permanent – that God would do what He said. I love verse 25, after all he prays and acknowledges God for, he does what we all do. He doubts God’s power. He basically says, “God, you gave our land over to Babylon, but you told me to buy a field! What the…?” He knew God could do all things. Yet, he was human and he had doubt… just like me. He wasn’t in disobedience, or even delay. He did it, but afterward he questioned God. I so get that. Don’t you? God’s answer: “Is anything too hard for ME?” It’s like a riddle of sorts. How the heck are you supposed to even answer that (not like He needs your answer…)? This has been my journey thus far. Walking in obedience. Acting in faith. But still doubting.

I want you to know that we are not super-human with some superpower of faith. We, just like the rest of you, have to get out of the boat, buy the field, kill the giant, etc. Let’s encourage each other to take these steps of faith.

He is fully able, nothing is too hard for Him.