Our Thought Are Not God’s Thoughts
One of my favorite passages from the Old Testament scriptures was written by the Prophet Isaiah. It goes like this:
“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.” Isaiah 55: 8–9 NIV
I remember back when I was younger, over a half-century ago, I was anticipating God acting and thinking like we mortals do. I was trying to put God in a human likeness thinking surely the Maker of the entire universe was no less than a logical thinker. Of course, His thoughts surely had to have made sense to us, so I thought. Boy was I wrong… on many levels.
Do you actually realize just how shallow the human mind is compared to the power that made all things on earth and in the heavens? Let just say that the human mind is but one of the quadrillions of things the mind of God created. If we tried to compare one thing, the human mind with its limited logic, against all things ever created, the mind of God, then how do you think the two would compare? That is literally the comparison and how they would measure side-by-side. That is not the all of it. I am sure even the large number that I came up with is much shorter than the infinite mind of God. If you think that you can stand toe-to-toe with God, that would be strike one and two. Strike one would be your ignorance, two would be the audacity, and you really don’t want to get to strike three because then you are just out to dry. Thankfully God already knows this about us, so His grace usually takes into account our lack of understanding of Him.
When you really understand this passage of scripture you would be as embarrassed as I was. Had God just taken me to the side and reminded me of exactly who He was I might have tucked my tail and surrendered? Might is a big word! Since I was so full of myself not even God could have moved me off my mark without possibly some sort of tragedy or suffering. However, He did not have to use those tools because He always has the element of time on His side. He waits until the exact moment that He knows is coming in our future. He already knows how we will react then. Once you come into knowledge and understanding there is very little that needs to be said because you get it without further discussion.
When you actually get a glimpse of the totality of God it will blow your tiny mind. He already knows that, so He waits until just the right moment then He allows you to peek into His court. You don’ need to have a pure heart just to see what God elects to reveal to those of whom He knows will eventually come to Him. When it happens your life starts the process of transformation. You will find more and more doors opening that lead to faith and belief. You don’t have to be a super spiritual person or religious to start this transformation process. In truth, you don’t know what God knows so you could be quite a tough character earlier in life and one day become one of God’s greatest supporters. Omnipotence is only one of the many powers of Almighty God that alone is far superior to anything or power that mortal beings have.
A good bible study friend of mine, James, would say that if we knew better, we would do better. If we had just a tiny bit of God’s wisdom, we would certainly make better choices and decisions. Our ignorance simply means that we are unaware of the truth of the matter. God is patient and willing to allow us to come into knowledge and wisdom, knowing exactly when or if that will happen. Since we do not have foreknowledge of our future we have to actually go through the tunnel of time before we know what actually happens. Even then some still don’t get it! In my case, I had to bump my head on the same wall many times before I was willing to submit. Thankfully God is not restricted by mortal time because He is both the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end at the same time. He knows what will happen before it happens in our time. That alone should blow your mind when you grasp such a concept.
This takes me back to an earlier piece that I wrote about. God made all things with the good in mind. Nothing that was created was created for the purpose of servicing evil. Scriptures tell us that God does all things for the good of those who love him in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” His purposes are for the good of all things, all people, all places, and all of His wonderful creation. With this in mind, I flatly refuse to bow down to the power of evil. It snatches at my heels daily trying to pull me down into the mud and mire, but God did not create this world for us to waddle in the mud.
No, our thoughts are not God’s thoughts, but our thoughts, acts, and deeds should be at a minimum for the good of all things we touch or even imagine. I wrestle daily with sinful thoughts crossing my mind and there are times I actually struggle to eradicate them from my mind. If I am not careful, they will overcome or even overshadow the good that I know is there underneath. It is like a gloomy day with dark clouds all around. We know that just above the clouds the sun is there as bright as it always is doing what it always does. This is how it is with God and the good that He created for our world.
Although the evil powers and principalities can cloud the light of God, they cannot eradicate the good that God laid out before they were even here. We have to remind ourselves that no matter how gloomy it appears to our mortal eyes the sun is always shining as bright as ever beyond those dark clouds. Even when the earth is turned away from the sun during the dark of night the sun is still shinning just a turn away when daylight reappears. It was there even when it was dark. In that same manner, God is always there no matter what! NO MATTER WHAT! Our thoughts should always be upon what God has done and who God IS. He did not create all things for the bad of those who do not love Him. Absolutely not! We know that in all things God ALWAYS works for the good in and for those who love Him.
So what is the verdict? Are we to lay down and allow wickedness to cloud over our lives? Are we to allow all those evildoers to overshadow the good that God created for us? Our thoughts are certainly not God’s thoughts, but they should always focus upon the good that extends beyond the clouds of this world and even beyond into the spiritual realm where God is always watching over us and cheering for us to remember Him. The Holy Spirit is shouting from inside your heart saying, REMEMBER ME! When you accepted Christ as Lord the Holy Spirit came to indwell you to be your Helpmate, provider, and protector in times of great need and in times of great joy. It is up to you to remember, never forget, who God IS, what He has done, and most importantly, who you belong to. Your thoughts should always focus upon your Redeemer, Christ Jesus. In God We Trust… Selah!
