I was reading Jeremiah 13 yesterday, and it struck me. This is what it says:
"1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. 2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins. 3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, 4 Take the girdle that thou hast got , which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. 5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. 6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise , go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. 7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. 8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem."
It struck me because that is probably one of the oddest things that God could have told Jeremiah to do. Jeremiah probably didn't understand why God wanted him to do it, or what the purpose was; it's possible that he didn't want to do it at all. But Jeremiah had faith, and obeyed God. What happened in the end? God used it to teach Jeremiah, to give him a first hand experience; so that when Jeremiah went to the Israelites and told them that God was going to judge them, he really knew what he was talking about.
God does that in our lives, too. There are many times when I wonder, "Why, God? Why did that happen? Why are you making me do this?" But if I would just have faith like Jeremiah to obey and move on, what amazing things could God teach me? This was a good reminder that no matter how odd, crazy, painful, or hard a situation is, God is always working in it.
