May 11

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” —ISAIAH 55:8

There will be many times our thinking and our ways will be all together different from God’s thinking and ways. We will save ourselves a lot of trouble if we believe that, because we often try to measure what is going on from our own level of understanding, and inevitably become disappointed at some stage. That sometimes results in disappointment with God, but it is actually a disappointment of perspective. 

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Some translations say, “He will direct your paths.” God directs our paths if we fulfill the condition of acknowledging Him in all our ways. That is, we recognize that God is God, and are living in a spirit of humble submission to Him. And as we do, God says, “Do not lean on your own understanding.”

Isaiah 55:9 speaks of the contrast between our ways and thoughts and God’s ways and thoughts. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” How much higher are the heavens than the earth? The Milky Way, which planet Earth is in, is 100,000 light years away. The galaxy, Andromeda, which can barely be seen, is 2.2 million light years away, and the known universe is at least 156 billion light years across. In other words, there is an immeasurable difference between God’s ways and our ways.

We must, of course, use our minds and our understanding in discerning God’s individual will for us, but don’t lean on it for the simple reason it is fallible. The alternative is: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart”, even though we may not know what God is doing. His wisdom is much greater than ours, and He has the right to operate in our lives without explaining Himself. 

Experiencing the personal will of God must involve three things; trusting the ways of God, which are higher than ours; seeking the wisdom of God, which is greater than ours, and relying on the Word of God, which is true. The Word of God and the will of God don’t serve one another, but are indistinguishable. That is why we must be people of the Bible, and as we live within the revelation God has given us in His Word, then the particular will of God, unique to each of us, will find its way.

PRAYER: Dear Father, keep me in a spirit of humble submission to You, and thank You for directing my paths.

TO REFLECT UPON: How has God’s revelation in His Word been reflected in His personal will for me?