Isaiah 55:6-13 Amplified Bible
6
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call on Him [for salvation] while He is near.
7
Let the wicked leave (behind) his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion (mercy) on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10
“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
Making it bear and sprout,
And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11
So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me void (useless, without result),
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
12
“For you will go out [from exile] with joy
And be led forth [by the Lord Himself] with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13
“Instead of the thorn bush the cypress tree will grow,
And instead of the nettle the myrtle tree will grow;
And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting sign [of His mercy] which will not be cut off.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Our Thoughts and God’s Thoughts
Some years ago, pastor at a church in New Orleans Louisiana I visited on a volunteer in mission trip once told this story to the children in his church.
He showed the group of children a pumpkin and an acorn, and he said he could never figure out why God had created such a small seed for a large tree and why he had created such a large gourd for such a small plant, asked for their ideas.
Nearly all of the children just shrugged their shoulders, others just sat there.
The Pastor continued, saying it seemed that in a creation that was proportional an oak tree should have a large seed, about the size of a pumpkin, and a small plant like a pumpkin vine should have a small seed, about the size of an acorn.
But then he went on to explain that one day while he was walking through the woods, an bunch of acorns fell from a tree and they hit him on the head–and suddenly he realized that God, not him, must know exactly what he is doing.
Often in life we see and experience things that don’t seem to make sense to us, and just as often we are called to trust that God knows more about what he is doing, what he is going to do at any given time he chose, than the Pastor did.
God reminds us of this when he says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways … As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Even in the confusion of life, we can be assured that when things do not make sense to us, God knows what he is doing and we can trust him to care for us.
Why Are You and I Second-Guessing God at All?
Have we ever second-guessed God, by wondering if He really knew what He was doing, if He really knew what He was talking about, He is communicating to us?
I remember when I applied for what seemed like the perfect job. At the perfect time. With a perfect salary. But when I didn’t get the job, I thought, believed was so perfect in every way, I became discouraged and began to question God.
I prayed, “Why not, God? This was so perfect for me. I prayed about it.
And I shouted to heaven, “I trusted You. Why did you not bless me with this?”
Yet God apparently knew what He was doing. Even though I didn’t. And now when I look back at what I thought was the perfect job at the perfect time, I can see that it wasn’t perfect for him, in His time after all, and it wasn’t the perfect time either. God knew what was coming…and He had something better in mind.
In Isaiah 55, verses 6-9, God told His people to seek Him, set aside their wicked ways and He would surely have mercy and compassion, that His thoughts were not like their thoughts, and neither were their ways like His. Seek God Out!
That’s because He knows all things and we don’t. But that passage also says His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, meaning better, more encompassing with far greater eternal purposes, while we tend to look at just the temporary.
In the next two verses, 10 and 11;
God told His people as sure as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it produce and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will His word will be which goes out of His mouth; it will not return to Him empty, without accomplishing what exactly He alone desires, and without succeeding in the very exact and exacting purpose for which He alone sent it.
That passage assures us that God not only knows what’s best for us, but He has His eternal purposes at work in what He allows, as well as what He prevents.
How often do you and I ask God,
“Why now, in this moment of moments? Couldn’t have come at a worse time!”
How often do we wonder, Why this? We were faithful and we were hoping for the best! How many times do we say, “Why me? As if I haven’t been through enough already!” We even sometimes offer God our “rational list” of the reasons why we believe His timing was way off and His choice were not in our best interest.
And yet, God continues to know what He is doing. We cannot just second-guess Him. Sometimes He’s protecting us from something we can’t yet—or might not ever—see. Other times He is preparing for something even better for us that we have yet to discover. And I believe at all times, as long as we stay surrendered to Him, He is shaping our character and refining us through our circumstances.
Intersecting Life & Faith:
God has His own exclusive reasons, far above our own, because He is God and thanks be to God, we are not nor have to be. We are asked to simply trust that…
- There is an occasion for everything and a time for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 11) that means He didn’t get the timing wrong in the slightest.
- “His work is perfect; all his ways are just” (Deuteronomy 32:4), and He is a God who never makes mistakes.
- He is a God who “does not slumber or sleep” (Psalm 121:3-4), meaning nothing takes Him by surprise.
Can you and I implicitly trust God today instead of second-guessing Him?
Can you and I live with the assurance that He loves us beyond comprehension and that nothing takes Him by surprise and He won’t let anything touch you that hasn’t already first passed through His loving hands? Can we make that your goal today and everyday, in every last circumstance that comes our way?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God of all creation, we acknowledge that our thoughts are not your thoughts and our ways are not your ways. Help us to trust in you and your ways. For Jesus’ sake, Amen. Lord, please help us to trust You with our disappointments and missed opportunities, and even when it seems like our world is turning all upside down. You are in control and, because You are loving and good, You wouldn’t have things any other way. In Your great, greater and greatest time and season. I pray only in Jesus’ name Amen
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 