Isaiah 55:8-9 is a powerful passage. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, exhale, and listen closely.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
This is not meant to discourage us but rather to provide understanding. God always sees the big picture we cannot. We have to trust that His vantage point allows Him to choose what is best for us. Listening to Him can help us line up with His thinking.
Verse 8 in The Living Bible says: “This plan of mine is not what you would work out, neither are my thoughts the same as yours!”
The Message Bible gives us this take on the passage: “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.”“For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.”
Think for a moment about something that is happening in your life right now…what is on your mind the most this week?
What might change if you prayed, “Father, show me what You are doing. How are you at work in my life right now? Help me to trust that Your higher ways are at work in my situation right now.”
All of our actions and attitudes are driven by our thoughts. What if you chose to “think beyond” what you can see today, handed your situation over to God, and surrendered your thoughts to Him?
Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, thank You that You don’t think like me or work like me. In fact, if you did, You wouldn’t be God. But you are. So help me to trust Your thoughts and Your ways today. As above, so below.”