My Thoughts, His Thoughts

Read Isaiah 55:1-13.

Why did we think it would be any other way? Why do we still think we can think God's thought before him? Why do we think we can even begin to understand what God is up to--or even more, to dictate to God what he should be up to? If we ever thought that, God's speech to Job should have been enough to disavow us of that belief. Do you remember what God says to Job? After a whirlwind tour of creation, God basically tells Job, "When you can do all of this, then we'll talk. Until then, trust me."

Many of our issues with what we mistakenly unanswered prayer have to do with just this issue. We try to tell God what to do, how to run the universe, how things ought to be in my life--and in someone else's! But here's the rub: we're not God. We did not create all of this. And as smart as we think we've become, we still have no idea how it really all works. God whispers to us (and sometimes should shout to us), "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways." In other words, you don't get it. You have no idea I'm up to. So trust me, like you say you do. 

I love the image Isaiah uses to describe the gulf between our thoughts and God's. It's as high as the heavens are from the earth, he says. In Isaiah's time, there must have been no greater distance he could have imagined. Today, of course, someone has measured that distance (at least the distance between the ground and outer space), but the image is still metaphorical, even if we have an exact number. When I stand outside and look up, the air and sky seem to go on forever. The distance is huge and awe-inspiring. Just so, the difference between the way God sees things and the way we see them is unfathomable.

Think about unanswered prayer this way. We have an anti-social Guinea pig named Sparkle. Occasionally she lets me get her out of the cage and pet her, briefly. At that moment, Sparkle wants nothing more than to get away from me, and run free and loose around the room. I hold onto her tightly, though, because what she doesn't know and doesn't see is that were she to do that, our dog Hershey, is just below me, waiting to turn Sparkle into her newest chew toy. It's better for Sparkle to stay in my hands, even if that isn't what she wants or hopes for. In that regard, my thoughts are higher (and safer) than hers.

God knows what is best. God sees the whole picture. Trust him, for his thoughts are higher (and safer) than ours.