June 10

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

We often try to measure what is going on in our lives and in the world from our own level of understanding. Inevitably, we become disappointed, and sometimes even turn that disappointment towards God. But actually, it is a disappointment of perspective.

As Christians, we all have a role to play in God’s plan for the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American philosopher in the 19th century, said something like this: “Believe what the years and the centuries say against what the hours and minutes say.” The minutes and hours tell us things are uncertain, but the years and centuries tell us that a sovereign God is working and we belong to a kingdom that is unshakeable. As we live within the revelation of God’s Word, then the particular will of God, unique to each of us, will find its way and our lives will become significant because of it.

In Isaiah 55:9, God said, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.” 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 if you know where to look, 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.

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...” Our own understanding is fallible, so we walk by faith and not by sight, allowing God to direct our steps. He has the right to operate in our lives without explaining Himself, but for many people that is a problem. They trust only what they can see, feel, touch, understand and explain, but don’t trust beyond that. It’s the minutes and hours they live by and are counting on.

Experiencing God’s will for us must involve absolute trust in Him; trusting His ways, seeking His wisdom and relying on His word. His will for each of us individually gives us the privilege of being caught up in His purposes for this world. To be in God’s personal will, we’re wise to look back on the years and the centuries, and wiser still to live the hours and moments by faith in Him.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, that You have a personal will for me in your work in this world. It is not only a privilege, but it gives my life meaning and purpose.

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I completely trusting of God and experiencing His personal will for me?