“For My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
When we want something, the thought of it begins to grow and if unfettered, the thought may consume us to the point that our thinking becomes clouded and our hearts become muddied with desires that do not coincide with the thoughts that God has for us. Our prayers become laced with personal agendas rather than desiring to discern God’s agenda. We begin to tell God what is best for us, as if we have control of our future or as if we have knowledge of God’s plan for our lives or as if He needs counsel from us. We ask for one thing, and then ask for something else that conflicts with the ability of the first request to take place. We view our wants independently as if each has its own discrete reward. God sees our lives as a continuum, one component dependent on another and the reward as having eternal value. We are so simple minded with our petitions that we fail to realize that the One to which we are speaking created our very being; certainly He knows what is best for us.
We ask God for directions and find Him telling us exactly what we want to hear (oh, really?) leaving us with no doubt that He knows our heart and will grant us our desires. Psalmist David writes, “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.”1 But do you delight yourselves in Him when you get the rejection letter stating you didn’t get the job or when you don’t receive the child support payment from your ex or when your phone is shut off for non-payment or when the bank takes the last dollar you have in fees because you overdrew your account? It is pretty hard to be delightful during difficult times, yet there is an emptiness to fill when things are not going your way. It is how you fill that void, the lack of delight that will determine the outcome of your trial.
Turning to God when all is turning against you is delighting yourself in the LORD. Coming to God with a contrite heart open to His arms is delighting you in Him. Knowing that God knows so much better what you need right now - more than you or anyone else in this world - should delight yourself in His sovereign ability to provide for you. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the LORD, “thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.”2 When you are feeling down trodden because you felt God had confirmed your request in your heart, yet you did not receive it, remember that He knows best what you need not only today, but also for all your tomorrows. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD, “For as the heavens are higher than earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”3
There is no escaping our dependence on God, not that we would want to be outside His providence nor feel chained to His will, but rather, since He is all knowing, all powerful, and present everywhere, what better place to be, but where He wants you right now. “Not that we are competent to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God,”4 apostle Paul reminds us, and although we do accomplish providing for ourselves and our family, God is the one who gave us the blessing of our gifts to do so. We do not sit back feeling helpless, or that regardless of our efforts, the outcome is predestined. We can make changes in our lives; we do make a difference. We must understand the meaning of the proverb, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps,”5 and “A man’s steps are of the LORD; how then can a man understand his own way?”6 God not only sees the big picture, He’s the artist of the painting! Although you may stress over an event today, God’s timing and His brush strokes are perfect. Know that to make a particular color in a painting, it is often necessary to lay down a coat of a different color. You may gasp at the color portrayed underneath and exclaim, “That is not what I wanted; you know my heart’s desires; you said that they will come about!” What you do not realize today is that as the painter of your portrait, He is painting the foundational layers first so that when the topcoat is applied, that which He purposely painted for your development will shine through, radiant with the love and care that He painted you every stroke of His Way.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”7 —Apostle Paul describes how Christ Jesus re-painted his life, covering his past persecution of Christians with forgiveness and calling him to a life destiny as a preacher of the Gospel.
Praise to Our Father for the words He has given me. ~Jeff Cambridge
Written July 14, 2004, Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2016 Stellar Rhema Ministry, Jeff Cambridge
References:
1. Psalm 37:4
2. Jeremiah 29:11
3. Isaiah 55:8-9
4. 2 Corinthians 3:5
5. Proverbs 16:9
6. Proverbs 20:24
7. Ephesians 2:10
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