WHEN HOPE SEEMS FOOLISH
Jeremiah--in prayer, was led to buy a field for $17--an act which appeared to be crazy since the enemy armies [Babylonians] at the time were camped on the land.He knew that HIS actions looked foolish and impractical. It was against history, against reason, against public opinion. But he didn't buy on the advice of his broker, but on the leading of God. He was not planning a retirement cabin on the property!
He couldn't have helped feeling foolish--and so he prayed, re-centering himself in
God's word: "Ah LORD GOD! it is You who have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR YOU!
Why did he do it? Because he was convinced that the troubles everyone was experiencing were being used by God to bring about the salvation of a believing "remnant". It was an investment in God's next project--one we now know paid off admirably. As Chesterton said, "As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery...only when everything looks hopeless does hope begin to be a strength at all. Like all the Christian virtues, it is as unreasonable as it is indispensable" [oh that Hitchens & Dawkins would learn this].
After preaching about God's judgment for years he now alertly directs attention to the purpose of the troubles--to prepare lives to receive the promises of salvation. He does not say, "I told you so'' or smugly point out the evidence that he had been right. Instead of pointing out his accurate forecasting and thus building his reputation he focuses on how the purposes of God can be fulfilled in the present, changing it from a place in a fog of futility to a place of hope. Not enjoying the discomfort of his detractors, he instead focused on God and His people.
At the moment that judgment is at hand he speaks the word that evokes HOPE. There is more here than Babylonians at the gate; there is God in your midst. Judgment is here. But don't despair; it is God's judgment. Face it. Accept the suffering. Experience the chastening action. God is not against you; He is for you. God has not rejected you; He is working with you. "It is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he will be saved out of it" (Jer. 30:7). "Why do you cry out over your hurt?...For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the Lord" (Jer 30:15, 17).
Judgment is not the last word; it is never the last word. Judgment is necessary because of hardheartedness; its proper work is to open our hearts to the Reality beyond ourselves, to crack the carapace of self-sufficiency so we can experience the in-rushing GRACE of the healing, merciful, forgiving God.
The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness...
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued My faithfulness to you.
Again I will build you, and you will be built...
Again you will go forth in the dance of the merry makers
(Jeremiah 31: 2,-4)
Instead of the cold language of the courtroom or the angry words of revenge, the personal pathos of a parent is heard:
Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.
(Jer. 31:20)
Excerpted from Eugene Peterson's, "Run with the Horses",
InterVarsity Press
