The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. ² At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, ³ where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; ⁶ Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷ Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” ⁸ Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹ And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land. 

excerpt from Jeremiah 32

In the middle of a siege against Jerusalem, God directs Jeremiah to buy a field. Who does that? Didn’t the Lord know that the field was going to belong to Babylon sooner than later? It sounds like throwing good money after bad.

But instead of being wasteful, this was a sign reminding people that God’s faithfulness would win the day. The passage reminds us that God’s people can instill confidence by refusing to join the Eeyore crowd saying “we are doomed” and instead continuing to live in a way that demonstrates trust in God. 

As we begin a new week, it is a great time to think about what our actions are saying about our faith. There are plenty of people willing to say we are doomed…the people of God should not be counted among them. Where can we plant seeds of the kingdom of heaven that show faith in a God who reigns instead of saying the situation is helpless and we are hopeless?

God is capable therefore we are hopeful.