What do you do when God asks you to do some thing that just doesn’t seem to make any sense?

I sat in my favorite chair in the prayer room at home and asked God, “What do you want me to do to help Billy and his family?” I was surprised when God told me to pay Billy’s bill. It wasn’t in words; I just suddenly knew that was what I was to do.

I didn’t know Billy; in fact I had never met him. He was a friend of a friend. My friend, Connie, had just called to ask if I could help Billy and his family, who were being evicted from their apartment because they used drugs. If that wasn’t enough, the landlady was threatening to take them to court because their young son had badly damaged the bathroom.

The landlady was not an evil person wanting to throw this innocent family onto the streets. Billy had brought this on himself. Nothing I could do would stop the eviction, and why should I pay for the destruction in the bathroom? It was a lot of money, and I could think of many ways to put it to better use. Yet God was telling me to use that money to help Billy. It didn’t make sense. In spite of my misgivings, I called Madison, the landlady, and told her I would pay the bill on the condition she not tell Billy who provided the funds. I explained that God wanted this bill paid anonymously. She told me that as a Christian she understood what I was doing and thanked me for being obedient to God. More than a year passed before I understood why God asked me to do this.

Sometimes things happen in our lives that defy explanation. No matter how hard we try we can’t make any sense out of the things God puts in our path. Yet if we remain faithful and patient, God often puts all the pieces together and reveals his purpose. He truly works in mysterious ways.

Consider the case of Joshua and the battle for Jericho. There are established ways to storm a heavily fortified city. For example, build siege towers and breach the walls. So imagine Joshua’s surprise when God told him to send the priests, not the soldiers, to march around the city and blow horns. I can picture the taunts from the people of Jericho standing on the walls watching this absurd display. It just didn’t make sense—until the seventh day, when the walls fell down.

Consider David, a man after God’s own heart. After years of running from the man who wanted him dead, he discovered Saul alone and vulnerable in a cave. David could have brought his private war to an end with a single blow from his sword. Yet God did not allow him to kill Saul that day. It didn’t make sense, but it taught David a valuable lesson. He learned to respect the will of God.

Consider poor Ananias of Damascus. God called him to go and minister to Saul, the man who had come to Damascus to arrest, torment and even kill Christians like Ananias. It didn’t make sense yet it turned out to be the first step in unleashing the most powerful ministry the world has ever seen.

God is full of surprises. He often asks us to do things that run counter to all common sense. So what would you do if God asked you to do something that didn’t make sense? What if it was something so foolish that all your friends advised against it? Before you answer, let me tell you how my story ended.

After giving Madison the funds, I was called in several times to mediate between Billy and Madison. Eventually the family moved out, and we never heard from Billy again. Occasionally I thought about the money, especially when other needs came up. At those times I wondered what God was doing. A year later, God sent me to see Madison again, and that is when I discovered exactly what God had been up to.

My wife, Bonnie, and I have had an ongoing ministry with the homeless in Tacoma, Wash. We help lead a church service as part of a Sunday morning breakfast. We do our best to help find housing, occasionally give out bus passes and continually pray for our friends on the streets. One Sunday we met Dianne and her adult son Joshua. They had only been on the streets for a few weeks and were having a difficult time adjusting to life there. They were desperate to find a new home.

We helped them as best we could. Eventually we found an apartment in their limited price range and helped them fill out an application. But three days later we learned they were rejected because of something on their background check. The apartment manager would not tell us what the problem was, but after talking with Dianne we ruled out anything drug related and assumed it was because of her outstanding debt.

We went on the search again. This time we found an affordable apartment where the manager would overlook any debt less than $5,000. Dianne assured us her debts were far below that limit, so we submitted another application. The next day it was rejected. This time they told us the reason. The background check revealed that Dianne and Joshua had been evicted from their last apartment.

We now knew we had a battle on our hands. It is difficult to find an apartment for anyone with an eviction history. I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea how to proceed. Every door was closed, or so I thought. One day God reminded me of Madison, the apartment manager I had worked with a year ago. He told me to take Dianne and Joshua to see Madison because she would provide a home for them.

I picked up Dianne and Joshua and drove them to Madison’s apartments. I had not called ahead to make an appointment, but as I drove up to the parking lot, Madison was standing outside, as if she was waiting for us. I jumped out of the car and asked if she remembered me. She told me she did. Then I told her about Dianne. I was honest about the eviction and asked if she had any apartments open. One was available immediately. They still needed to fill out the application and pass a background check. Madison told me that because she trusted me she would overlook the past eviction. If everything I had told her was true and there were no criminal activities in their background (there weren’t), they could have the apartment.

The rest of the timeline of this miracle is like a blur. By Tuesday they were approved to move in. On Saturday I picked them up and helped them move in their bed and other items that had been in storage. It was their last day living on the streets.

Paying Billy’s bill made no sense to me at the time, but now it is totally clear why God asked me to do it. The lesson I learned is that sometimes God asks strange things of us. Yet he always has a purpose and sometimes will let us know that purpose. Whether the purpose is revealed or not, we can always find comfort in Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

When God doesn’t make sense, there are two things I know for certain. First, the problem is not with God but with me. It is the result of my limited ability to see the whole picture. Second, those times when God doesn’t make sense are the times when his power shines.

Doing what God asks, even when it doesn’t make sense, is an exercise in faith. Ultimately your faith is strengthened, life becomes an adventure and you have the opportunity to participate in a miracle. So when God does not make sense, I am drawn to Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.”

Richard Spillman lives in Fircrest, Wash.