Theme Verse
Isaiah 55:8 (New Living Translation)
““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
"And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine."
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The following are a few inspirational devotions associated with this verse. Enjoy!
God Holds All the Pieces
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith 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."
I love jigsaw puzzles! It’s so much fun to open a new puzzle and run my fingers through the box, making sure all the pieces are separated. Then I spread them out on the table and start sorting them by color, design and texture until I have a multitude of piles. Of course, I start by finding the edge pieces and making the frame. That’s the easy part! Then patiently, carefully, gradually the scene unfolds as one by one each piece goes into place.
One time our family did a very large puzzle that took days to piece together. With great excitement we slipped the last few pieces in place, only to discover that the very last piece was missing! We looked high and low but it just wasn’t anywhere to be found. I kept hoping one of the children was playing a trick on us and was hiding the missing piece in his hand. But no, the piece was simply gone, leaving us with an incomplete picture on the table. I was frustrated and frazzled!
Much of life is like a puzzle. It’s easy to focus only on bits and pieces and fail to look toward the end result. Or when things don’t seem to come together and the gaps in the picture produce confusion, life may seem hopeless or out of control. Gradually depression and anxiety creep in and steal away the joy and peace of the present, and the hope for the future.
But God is in control. He’s the One holding all of the pieces, and at just the right time, He can and will put them in place to make a beautiful picture out of even the most difficult and trying situation. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. His plan and purpose are much higher than anything you and I can comprehend. We can rest assured that one day He will slip that last piece into place and the picture of life will be complete. With God, there are no missing pieces. What comfort to know that He holds all the pieces in His sovereign hands. Not one of them is lost or misplaced.
By Ann Shorb
©Copyright Ann Shorb, 2006
Founder and Director of CCES
Christian Counseling & Educational Services
Pause To Ponder God's Word
"God's Ways"
Augustine recorded a dream he had one night. In his dream he is walking along the sea shore enjoying the beauty of God's creation. While walking along he saw a young boy running back and forth between the sea and a particular spot on the beach. As he drew closer to the young lad, Augustine noticed that the boy has a bucket in hand. With each trip to the sea the lad filled the bucket with water. Returning to the spot in the sand he poured the water in a small hole he had dug in the sand. After watching the boy for a time, Augustine asked him, "Son, what are you doing?" The young boy looks up and in matter of fact way replied, "Why, I am putting the sea into this hole."
We easily speak and sing of God's greatness. We readily join with the Psalmist as he proclaims, "Great is our God and greatly to be praised; His greatness no one can fathom!" Yet, no sooner have we proclaimed this than we are angry with God because He isn't working the way we want or expect. We do not deny He is great. We just want Him to work according to ways that we can understand. We want His timing and methods to fit our logic, our reason. We want Him to be God - All Powerful, All Knowing, Omnipresent - but in accordance with human logic and reason. We want to be able to figure out His way and timing. Even more, we want to dictate His way and timing.
Is it any wonder that God tells His people through the Psalmist "Be still and know that I am God?" He clearly reminds us through Isaiah that "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts." Why do we proclaim Him God, and then frantically attempt to make it all work out according to our plans? If history has taught us anything, it has taught us that humanity's attempts are futile from the start. When we place our faith in God and let Him be God, we discover that He does far more than we could have ask or even imagined and His timing is flawless.
Does the manner and timing God used to get Joseph to Egypt and into a place of leadership so that Israel would have provisions through the drought fit human reason? Does walking around a wall for six days in absolute silence, on the seventh doing it seven times, and on the seventh time shouting praises unto the Lord God sound like good military strategy to you? Does the fact that God used a boy to defeat a giant who single-handedly held the Hebrew nation to a standstill make sense to you? Using human reason and logic, would you pick the twelve men that Jesus picked as leaders? Does God's love for us make sense? Do we sinners find His actions toward us logical?
Our attempt to make God fit into our little box of understanding is as ludicrous as the young lad attempting to put the sea into a little hole in the beach. Beloved, let us "Be still and know He is God." Let us cease our frantic, hectic living and let God be God!
Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry Whetstone
Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene
