It Doesn’t Make Sense

It Doesn’t Make Sense

Leadership Lessons Book-by-Book – Jeremiah

When I was in the fifth grade, going to the nearby YMCA was mandatory; swimming constituted the physical education portion of the class. There was only one problem: I didn’t know how to swim. Not only did I not know how to swim, I was scared of trying. The year before I was invited to a pool party at my friend’s house. I thought I would just stay on the shallow end of the pool for most of the party. But at one point I slipped on the pool deck and fell into the deep end of the water and began to drown. Luckily, my friend’s older sister saw what was happening and dove into the pool to save me. As I was coughing and gagging while sitting on the patio, I told myself I would never go into the water again. So when I got to the fifth grade and found out that going to the pool was mandatory, I thought I would fail P.E.

Fifth grade was not a good time for me. I had just transferred from another school so I didn’t have many friends. I was always one of the last to be picked for any vigorous game because I wasn’t athletic. However, I was pretty good in academics but that just got me labeled as a nerd. To add to the growing list of low self-esteem items, I was put into the group that could not swim. Swimming did not make sense to me. How could something that weighed 80 pounds float? Every time the lifeguard said to let go of the kickboard, my mind would not let me do it. Floating was illogical. Things going into the water should sink. It didn’t make sense.

Weeks into the program, while my fellow non-swimmers learned to swim and advanced to the dolphin level, I was still stuck as a tadpole. But something happened along the way. During one of the exercises, the lifeguard told me to just put my fingertips on the kickboard while kicking. Then slowly, he took the kickboard away and I found myself floating on the water. It was an amazing feeling! It was almost nirvana-like! It’s the same feeling you get when you learn you can balance on two wheels! From that moment on, I loved swimming! I continued to swim throughout elementary, intermediate, and high school, as it helped my on-going asthma condition, which was another item to add to my low self-esteem list.

Maybe you’ve been in situations where things didn’t make sense. A parent telling you not to stay out past 10pm even though the rest of your friends can stay out until midnight, or your wife telling you to wash the car even though it’s going to get dirty again, or your boss telling you to get to work early even though it doesn’t make a difference because everyone starts at the same time. But not everything is supposed to make sense.

The prophet Jeremiah did not live during a godly period in Judah’s history. Its bad kings caused God to remove His hand of protection from the Judeans which allowed the Chaldeans to come in and invade the land and exile the best and the brightest to Babylonia, such as Daniel and his three friends. But there was a remnant that was allowed to stay in Judah (39:10). This remnant was afraid. They didn’t want to see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread (42:14). So their solution was to go to Egypt. Why Egypt? The remnant not only considered this country a safe place away from the Chaldeans, but Egypt was historically considered a place of protection, going back to the great famine that happened in Genesis. However, God had other plans. He said, “As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt…Do not go to Egypt” (42:18, 19). If the remnant stayed in Jerusalem, they would live (42:10).

What was the peoples’ response? They said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ but Baruch the son of Neriah (the scribe of Jeremiah) has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into the exile in Babylon” (44:2-3). It made no sense to stay in Jerusalem. They would die there by the hand of the Chaldeans. There was a good chance they would live if they could make it to Egypt. “So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah” (42:4). The Lord said not to go to Egypt but that didn’t make sense. So the people intentionally chose to disobey the Lord and went to Egypt. That was the wrong choice; the Chaldeans eventually overtook Egypt.

Throughout your life you will encounter what are called obedience checks. Dr. J. Robert Clinton says an obedience check is a test God uses to evaluate the response of a leader to God’s revealed truth. And sometimes those revealed truths won’t make sense. They will contradict what is logical. But if you think about it, the Bible is filled with things that don’t make sense. Love your enemies. Find your life by losing it. When you are weak, you are strong.

When you encounter these obedience checks, the bottom line is if you can obey what God says to do, even when it doesn’t make sense. Can you give away your money even when you don’t have a lot? Can you give up your possessions even though you need them? Can you leave a job even when it pays well? If you’re single, can you give up your choice of a future spouse? Can you release your future even though you’ve worked hard to protect it? Sometimes obedience checks won’t make sense.

God gave the remnant of Judah the promise of life in a desolate place. It didn’t make sense to them so they chose to disobey God. The result was death. God will challenge you as a leader with actions that don’t make sense. Do you have the ability to trust God wholeheartedly during those times? Being a leader doesn’t always mean making the most logical choice, but it does mean always making the godly choice.

Questions to Think About:
• Can you remember a time when God asked you to make a decision when it didn’t make sense?
• Is God currently asking you to make a decision that doesn’t make sense? What do you think you should do?

© Gary Lau 2015
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