“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
“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

It is not always easy to understand the ways of God’s providence. God has revealed Himself as the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-wise Sovereign God. He sees and knows all things and sustains and guides His universe according to His perfect will. That is why faith in a transcendent God is so essential. We are not able to see things from God’s point of view. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of life’s circumstances: why things happen the way they do, when they do, or with whom they do. This includes times of suffering, sorrow, tragedies of all sorts, and quite frankly, even blessings!

God has not revealed everything to us. First, we are not capable of understanding all things. The Bible even asks, “Who can know the mind of God?” (1 Corinthians 2:11). Yet He has revealed enough for us to know Him, to have a relationship with Him, and to learn what we need to know for salvation. For the rest, God calls us to trust that He knows and works out His purpose and all He does is best and good. Sometimes it is hard to embrace this from our limited point of view. How can this be good? How can this be best? We do not see the bigger picture. How can we judge what God does? What is the standard against which we measure God? He is the standard! He measures everything else. So, by definition, all that He does is best and good!

Consider a little child. That sweet child goes to his or her mother and asks for a cookie. To the child, that request seems reasonable. Cookies are good things, so the mom should agree. But the mom, in her wisdom and wider worldview, knows that in 20 minutes it will be dinner time. If the child were to eat a cookie, then in 20 minutes his or her vegetables would go un-eaten, so the mom’s answer is, “No.” Now the child, who is either incapable of understanding or refuses to understand, throws a tantrum. The wise mother does not surrender to the child’s tantrum; she remains steadfast with her answer because she knows her way is better.

My friends, we do the same thing with God! We come to Him earnestly, asking Him for something, thinking that what we desire and how we want things to go is best. He often does not answer exactly the way we want, and we cry out to Him. Our limited view makes our de-sire seem perfectly reasonable, but we do not see things from His point of view.

Dr. Chun-Ming Kao of Taiwan unjustly served over four years in prison for standing up for what was right. While in prison, he wrote a little poem called “God’s Way: A Poem from Prison.”¹ I suspect it is more expressive in Taiwanese than in English, but I think you will get the point. He wrote:

I asked the Lord for a bunch of fresh flowers
but instead He gave me an ugly cactus with many thorns.
I asked the Lord for some beautiful butterflies
but instead He gave me many ugly
and dreadful worms.
I was threatened.
I was disappointed
I mourned.
But after many days,
suddenly,
I saw the cactus bloom
with many beautiful flowers.
And those worms
became beautiful
butterflies flying in the Spring wind.
God’s way is the best way.

The Bible repeatedly reveals that God is worthy of our trust. Do you really think the God who would die for you would abandon you? Do you think the Lord who promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), will not be there for you?

Our thoughts are not His thoughts, and our ways are not His ways. But we can trust His are always best!

by Pastor Steven Grant

 

¹Kao, Dr. Chun-Ming. “God’s Way: A Poem from Prison.” LESTENsLagoon, Blogger, http://lestenslagoon.blogspot.com/2008/04/lord-turned-
my-grief-to-joy-dr-chun.html.