Obey Even When Confused

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. Sometimes we just don't know what's going on. Sometimes we just gotta pray. We don't know. Things seem contrary. God says one thing, then we look with our eyes and the world seems like it's different. I think that's what Jeremiah is dealing with here.
So let's have some coffee. We'll pray. We'll get into Jeremiah chapter 32, the middle section, starting at verse 16. Let's have some, oh, I got tea this morning, but maybe you got coffee. Let's have something to drink. We'll pray. I'm getting God's word. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for the joy it is to get to hear from you. We thank you that it's a language we can understand. We thank you for those who have gone before us to study the original languages in this portion, Hebrew, and then put into English so that we can actually comprehend ourselves. So help us, Lord. Help us to know it, and help us to live it. In Jesus' name, amen. Here we go, Jeremiah chapter 32, 16 through 25. Now when I had delivered the purchased deed to Baruch the son of Nariah, I prayed to the Lord, saying, Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.
There is nothing too hard for you. You show loving kindness to thousands and repay the iniquity of the fathers and the bosom of their children after them, the great, the mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts. You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt to this day. And in Israel and among other men, you have made yourself a name as it is this day. You have brought your people, Israel, out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. You have made them, or you have given them this land of which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
And they came in and took possession of it. but they have not evaded your voice or walked in your law. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore, you have caused all this calamity to come upon them. Look, the siege mounds. They've come up to the city to take it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it because of the sword and famine and pestilence. What you have spoken has happened. There, you see it. You have said to me, O Lord God, buy the field for money and take witnesses. Yet the city has been given over to the hand of the Chaldeans. We're going to stop there. It goes on, but I just want to stop there. We need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, the best verse to summarize this, and C, what are we called to do? What's this about? Well, this is Jeremiah's prayer, right?
It starts off with the introduction that he had bought this field of land. We looked at that in the first part of the chapter, 32, 1 through 15. God had told him to buy this from his uncle. His uncle all of a sudden shows up while he's in prison, so he goes ahead and He gives him the money, fills out the deed, gets the witnesses, does all the legal stuff. Then he tells his secretary, Baruch, to go put this in a jar for a long time.
He's got a face that seems like the Lord's going to come back, but then we find him praying. as a God-exalting, wonderful prayer. Isn't it the first part, right? He's a mighty God. He's a redeemer of his people. He's the one who is sovereign, and he's the Lord, and he's all these wonderful things. Jeremiah knows that in his heart. He knows the God he serves.
And yet, he walks in faith, and yet his faith is mingled with human doubt. The siege mounts, Lord. He sees the ramps being built up the walls of Jerusalem, where they're starving out the people. They're going to starve them out, and when they come out, they're going to either kill them or capture them. He says, and you had me buy a plot of land? They're taking the land. Why? Why? There's this implied why, Lord. What are you doing in this passage? So what's this passage about? This is Jeremiah wrestling with God. That's what this is about.
The best verse to summarize this, well, I got a whole bunch of the prayer underlined because I think it's one of my favorite prayers of the scriptures. But I really think that verse 25 gets at the heart of it. And you have said to me, O Lord God, buy the field for money and take witnesses. Yet the city has been given over into the hands of the Chaldeans." That's his why statement.
What's going on here? So what are we called to do? Sometimes faith is hard. Sometimes obedience doesn't make sense. We do it, but we're able to go to God even after we struggle and he's not going to reject us. We obey even though we don't necessarily understand. And then we can go to a throne room of grace. We can go to him and we can ask our why. It's not always going to be answered.
But we humble ourselves, we see Him exalted, and we come to Him in honesty and prayer. It's a great blessing we have that we get to pray to the sovereign Lord of the universe, the maker of heaven and earth. And He does not despise the prayer of the poor and the weak of heart. So go to Him. If you're struggling today, why? Why did this happen? Lift up your eyes unto heaven. Go to the Lord.
He will not turn his back on you. Be comforted in Christ. Nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. And Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for his people day and night. Let's pray. God, we thank you that you are our Heavenly Father, wonderful in all your deeds. We also thank you, Lord, that you have given us Jesus, our High Priest, who makes our prayers perfect before you. And when we struggle, and when we doubt, which we know, Lord, we do, we need not hide it from you or from others. Lord, we thank you that you are greater than our hearts, and that you work in us by the power of your Holy Spirit. So God, strengthen us, encourage us. Send us your Spirit, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. May God bless you. May you enjoy the sweet fellowship that comes from enjoying your God. And I'll see you next time.