Thinking Thursday: Doing Silly Things

In the Bible there are lots of places where people were asked to do things that didn't make sense. Sometimes they seemed to be really silly. Look at these:

Numbers 21:6-9
The Israelites were bitten by venomous snakes and God told Moses to make a bronze snake – those who looked at it lived, those who thought it was silly, died.

2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman was the commander of the king of Aram's army, and he had leprosy. Elisha told Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times to be cured. He thought it was silly, but when his servant persuaded him to do it, he was healed.

John 3:1-21
Nicodemus was told by Jesus he had to be born again. He thought it was silly and Jesus had to gently explain it to him.

Why didn't God explain, or make it simpler? I think there are two reasons.
Isaiah 55:8-9 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
We cannot always expect to understand God's plans, we have to trust him that he knows what he is doing. But the second reason comes from this. We have to humble ourselves to his will. I think sometimes God asks us to do something that doesn't make sense so we can show him we will be obedient, no matter what.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.
When we seek to serve God we often expect Him to call us to something extreme or difficult. God doesn’t always want missionaries to China – sometimes He just wants you to talk to your neighbour. What is God asking you to do that seems too silly?