Monthly Archives: February 2012

His ways are not our ways?

I have always struggled with this verse, Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,” declares the Lord. I haven’t struggled with this verse because I don’t believe it. I haven’t even struggled because I don’t want it to be true, I do. I wish my ways were more like God’s ways, I wish my thoughts were more like His. I struggle because having my ways become like God’s, and my thoughts to be His thoughts is hard! It isn’t easy. I think things I shouldn’t think, and I do things I know I shouldn’t do.

What gives me hope is that God doesn’t expect me to be perfect, He expects me to turn to Him in my imperfection. We forget the verses found before this passage. In verses 6&7 it is said. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” The first step in having your ways become God’s ways, and your thoughts being God’s thoughts is not to just try harder. It isn’t to commit more, or give more or do more. Those are the things we all try… and I try. The first step is really simple. Turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy. Turn to God and let Him do what He seems so willing to do. God continues to be who He has always been. A loving, restoring, rejuvenating God!

Have you noticed that there are seasons of life that seem to be wonderful, easy, enjoyable and maybe even at times carefree? If you are in a season of life like that you probably don’t realize it. Most of the times when I find things are going great I have a tendency to take life for granted. It is the difficult times in life that tend to get my attention, make me evaluate myself and ask what I am doing, where I am going, what matters to me the most and how am I going to move forward. Unfortunately, the difficult times seem to be the moments in life that define us. Do we give up and throw in the towel? Or do we press on and push forward?

Philippians 3:13-14 states:

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

It is interesting to me how clear the author of scripture makes this point.

1. We have not yet made it. We aren’t perfect. We need to accept that.
2. Learn from the past, but also learn to forget the past. Nothing positive comes from constantly living in days gone by. You can’t change what has happened, but you can control how you move forward.
3. Accept the fact that to attain all that is in our future will take some work and some energy. Scripture says “straining towards”. It doesn’t say “coast”!

Your future has potential to be great! Now it is time to press on!