“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV
At different times in my walk with God, I have had times when I prayed and it felt like nothing was happened. I didn't know if I had done something that had created distance between me and God or if God was simply not ready at that time to answer my prayer. That item just stays and stays on the prayer list. You see other things come off and on and still that one remains. It is difficult to understand what God is up to sometimes and then sometimes it is impossible. Have you ever thought about why that is?
One thing that I think that sometimes christian are guilty of is treating God as if he is simply a bigger human. We seem to attribute so many human qualities to God it makes it seem like he is just a bigger version of us. But, if you look at passages such as the above, we see that God is vastly different than us. God's thoughts and his ways are different than us. He doesn't operate by the same principles or values that we do. He does everything in order to glorify His own name, in perfect holiness and love. He does everything with perfect insight in past, present and future and perfect power to do whatever He wants.
But, we can be guilty of attributing to God the same temper that people have such as "I did so and so, so God must be mad at me." Like God didn't know before the universe was created who and what you were. One of the glorious things to remember about God's love is that God knows you better than you know yourself. He knows about sins you haven't even committed yet. He knows the thoughts you will think 20 years from now and every motive your heart has ever had. He knows all our dark places and yet loves us anyhow. So, no, he is not like us. Because I can barely stand myself some times and I don't even understand the depth of the darkness of my own soul like God does.
And the simple truth is that it is impossible for a infinite God to always communicate everything to a finite being. It is important to realize that there will be times when we cannot understand what God is up to because it is so much more above us. Our understanding is limited while His is not. In those times, we simply have to trust God. We do that by remember His character and His love for us. And remember that God doesn't do things just to be mean like people do. His motives and heart is always pure and good. He doesn't make mistakes or speak out of turn. He doesn't need to repent and correct Himself. He hasn't forgotten about you and there isn't something he should touch that is beyond Him. We simply have to trust Him that even though God may be quiet, it doesn't mean He is not at work. I would encourage you to trust Him when you don't understand what He is up to.
One other thing to remember if your waiting on God is that it is up to God to speak when he is ready and it is up to us to listen. Your not to speak for Him, but to be still, wait and listen. Your job is to be faithful doing your part and then let God do His part. It may seem that God is late, but He is not. He does tarry at times though to test us and prove us that we might be stronger from having gone through a trial. He may simply be waiting because it is through that perseverance that you become stronger.
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV
At different times in my walk with God, I have had times when I prayed and it felt like nothing was happened. I didn't know if I had done something that had created distance between me and God or if God was simply not ready at that time to answer my prayer. That item just stays and stays on the prayer list. You see other things come off and on and still that one remains. It is difficult to understand what God is up to sometimes and then sometimes it is impossible. Have you ever thought about why that is?
One thing that I think that sometimes christian are guilty of is treating God as if he is simply a bigger human. We seem to attribute so many human qualities to God it makes it seem like he is just a bigger version of us. But, if you look at passages such as the above, we see that God is vastly different than us. God's thoughts and his ways are different than us. He doesn't operate by the same principles or values that we do. He does everything in order to glorify His own name, in perfect holiness and love. He does everything with perfect insight in past, present and future and perfect power to do whatever He wants.
But, we can be guilty of attributing to God the same temper that people have such as "I did so and so, so God must be mad at me." Like God didn't know before the universe was created who and what you were. One of the glorious things to remember about God's love is that God knows you better than you know yourself. He knows about sins you haven't even committed yet. He knows the thoughts you will think 20 years from now and every motive your heart has ever had. He knows all our dark places and yet loves us anyhow. So, no, he is not like us. Because I can barely stand myself some times and I don't even understand the depth of the darkness of my own soul like God does.
And the simple truth is that it is impossible for a infinite God to always communicate everything to a finite being. It is important to realize that there will be times when we cannot understand what God is up to because it is so much more above us. Our understanding is limited while His is not. In those times, we simply have to trust God. We do that by remember His character and His love for us. And remember that God doesn't do things just to be mean like people do. His motives and heart is always pure and good. He doesn't make mistakes or speak out of turn. He doesn't need to repent and correct Himself. He hasn't forgotten about you and there isn't something he should touch that is beyond Him. We simply have to trust Him that even though God may be quiet, it doesn't mean He is not at work. I would encourage you to trust Him when you don't understand what He is up to.
One other thing to remember if your waiting on God is that it is up to God to speak when he is ready and it is up to us to listen. Your not to speak for Him, but to be still, wait and listen. Your job is to be faithful doing your part and then let God do His part. It may seem that God is late, but He is not. He does tarry at times though to test us and prove us that we might be stronger from having gone through a trial. He may simply be waiting because it is through that perseverance that you become stronger.
