People have a tendency to cling to their concept of God rather than a humble acknowledgment that God is greater than our finite understanding of Him. God is omniscient and He is sovereignly working all things in accordance with His divine plan:

But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Psalm 115:3)

The Israelites believed they knew God’s will and we can often act the same way. Some people believe their lives are incorrigible and God will never accept them because of their past sins. The prophet Isaiah provided a helpful corrective as he challenged his people to come to God:

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

Other people might respond and say, “But that’s not fair, they should be punished for their misdeeds.” Our sense of justice demands that people be punished for misbehavior and rewarded for good deeds. This was the mindset of Jesus’ disciples when they assumed that sin was the cause of the man who was born blind. Jesus corrected their assumption:

Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:3)

There are serious consequences for our sin, but we must realize that God’s grace is greater than our sin. Therefore, we must approach God and realize that our thoughts and plans may differ from God’s thoughts. Isaiah revealed this discordance:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares 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)

These verses are presented as a chiasmus in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. This results in a mirror effect in which the ideas are reflected back in a passage in a related form. This is a common literary device that derives its name from the Greek letter chi, which looks like our letter X.

God contrasted His thoughts with our thoughts and emphasized that our ways and not His ways. He then accentuated the difference by showing that His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. If God doesn’t respond as you think He should – don’t become discouraged. He knows what He’s doing and we can rest in God’s sovereign plan to do what is right:

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

Follow me on twitter:  rickhiggins5