“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith 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.“–Isa. 55:8-9
I confess–I don’t always understand God. Any man who says he does is dangerous–don’t trust him! What I do understand is that God either causes or allows everything that happens and that He does all things well. He makes no mistakes and owns no one an apology. Still, there are some things that makes no sense to me. If I depended on my power to reason I would have to say that God and I do not agree on some things. And this is in no way a criticism of God.
While I could write a book discussing examples It isn’t necessary. We all have a list of things regarding how our thoughts conflict with God’s. We should actually expect that. If God was no different than us there would be no reason for us to think highly of Him, obey Him, or trust Him. We would be justified in making a god of ourselves– exactly what some foolish folks have done.
This subject is much more serious than most imagine. It is in fact foundational to everything. One of our biggest problems is that we depend entirely too much on ourselves, and we resent it when we are confronted with opposing views. Were they totally honest many would have to admit that they believe the world would be better, if not perfect, if they had the power to change and control everything. We all tend to think we are right, or we would think differently. Now that might not be so terrible if you just compared yourself to others, but when you feel that way regarding God you are in serious trouble. There is no comparison between you and God. He is in a class all by Himself. His perfect knowledge, infinite wisdom, mighty power and unconditional love make Him one of a kind. He is unlike anyone else and superior to everyone else. This is the God we don’t understand, but desperately need to know!
To have a relationship with God we must depend upon a revelation from God, and we find that revelation in the Bible. While we could know about God without the Bible we could never know Him. Apart from the Scripture our knowledge of God is very limited. We could look at creation and conclude that there must be a “Higher power”– a skillful designer and a powerful creator, but we need more information than that. Thankfully we find what we need in the Bible. This should be a constant reminder that when our thoughts clash with God’s we must consult His Word to find the truth, and the truth is that God doesn’t always explain Himself– and that should be okay with us.
Although we cannot always understand God we can and should trust Him. We can depend upon Him. As Spurgeon said, “When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart”. That’s good advice! So, here’s the bottom line — if we are doing God’s will we don’t need to know anymore than what He is willing to reveal to us. To know more would be counter-productive. It is for that reason that our thoughts and ways should be like God’s to the greatest degree as possible. For that to happen, to have “the mind of Christ”, we must simply believe what God says, behave accordingly, and leave it at that. I don’t always understand God’s ways, but I trust Him, love Him, and serve Him. I need do no more than that! Neither do you. Stop worrying about the things you don’t understand and start enjoying what God has revealed. That will make a world of difference in your outlook on life.
