Devotional: Prophets And Real Estate

I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. 

Jeremiah 32:39-41

Jeremiah had just got into real estate. He was living in confinement in the king’s courtyard because he was predicting the doom of Jerusalem and Zedekiah, its king. “The word of the Lord came to me…” God’s word is not constrained, even when our circumstances have us imprisoned. “Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field…’” They were in a real estate slump. Nebuchadnezzar was besieging the city, and the prophet himself had said the place would be torn down. Jeremiah nonetheless did the deal because God told him to do it. This didn’t save him from some buyer’s regret, however, and he prays a long prayer talking about how great God is, and sort of ends with a little reminder to God: “And though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, you, O Sovereign Lord, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’”

Four thoughts thus far: First, God can bring you deals even when you are out of the market. Second, God has a long-term view. Third, we sometimes do business as a prophetic picture of what God intends to do with a nation. Fourth, the fact that God tells us to do something does not remove all of our doubts. Jeremiah had prayed, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Yet God knew that he still needed some encouragement, so he tells/asks the prophet, “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” 

It is easier to get into God’s business when we see God’s heart. Amidst the talk of the pending captivity of Israel and the destruction of God’s adversaries, there is this tender phrase: 

“I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.” 

What a wonderful phrase: “with all my heart and soul.” This is God speaking about us. No matter how bad business gets, no matter how dour the market predictions, we must rely on the heart of our Father towards us: 

“I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.”

God may have led you into a business or a deal that is not looking too good right now. Hang in there. Pray that his ways are advanced through it. Remember his fond love for you. And remember that he said, “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

Reflections

• Do you feel you are in a tight spot and God led you into it? What assurance can you take from this text?
  
  
• Is God leading you into a business deal that doesn’t make sense on paper, but that demonstrates his heart for a city or nation?
  
  
• Are there areas where God needs to stretch your time horizon from “quarters” to decades to generations?