For your thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are my ways your ways.” declares the Lord, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than my ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9
So many questions.
When our lives are thrown into a state of confusion, and we are faced with devastating loss, we want to know why? How this could happen? It seems the more substantial our loss is, the more questions we come up with. We can get caught up in seeking to understand, and make sense of it all. This is especially prominent during the loss of a loved one or a family breakup like divorce. Life seems to be just fine, and then…wham! Chaos.
It’s not a measure of wisdom to try to understand God’s purpose behind it all. I’ve been caught in the folly of assuming God thinks like me. Thank goodness He doesn’t! I like The Living Bible (TLB) version of this passage that starts, “My ways are not what you would work out…” So, my hopes, and my creative ways to make them happen, all fade in the light of God’s bigger plan to rescue and redeem mankind. It could be you’ve been hoping and praying a loved one gets better, and they don’t. It may be you’ve been hoping a spouse will change and recommit to a marraige, and they don’t. It may be a job that we truly wanted and don’t get. Even though some things very dear to our hearts are denied, let’s not lose hope. It’s in His sovereign goodness that we must place our trust. He has a purpose that we simply cannot understand, and wisdom is found in resting in this promise. We cannot control God’s ways or purpose, and we are not meant to understand them all. It’s in the acceptance of this passage, in the face of unanswered questions and trust in His goodness, that we will find rest.
“Lord, please help me to understand what I can contain, and to trust you with the rest.”
*****
You are not alone. Others have made it through hard times, and so will you. If you’ve found a way to accept and even enjoy yourself, will you tell us about it? It’s in our struggles that we really come to know God and know ourselves.
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Yeah. that’s what I was exploring for.. thanks. Addy Payton Russi
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Happy to hear, Addy. How often, in hindsight, I’ve come to understand the mercy in the Lord denying what I wanted so much. Always there’s goodness, but it is so hard to see in the dark. Praying the Lord makes his presence known to you!
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