So are my ways higher than your ways
Isaiah 55:9 - Stop trying to figure out God. He knows what He’s doing.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:9 NIV
It’s been a pleasure and an honor to have God point me to the Book of Isaiah frequently this month, as it is not only my favorite book of prophecy, but also the most clear signpost in the Old Testament to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
I must admit that sometimes I find myself struggling for meaning in Scripture, even when I have a vast treasury of Bible commentary at my fingertips. The meaning in today’s verse is actually quite easy to find — stop trying to figure out God. He knows what He’s doing.
Isaiah 55 is an invitation from God to enjoy His mercy and goodness, a free gift available to everyone! Well, maybe not free… Two verses before today’s jewel, God presents His invoice for this gift of infinite mercy: “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7).
Confession and repentance is the cost of God’s mercy, but all too many of today’s Christians are of the mistaken belief that they just need to “accept Jesus as Lord” and let it go at that while blithely continuing their lives of sin. It doesn’t work that way. You must do your part as well.
Rich Cathers has several good commentaries about Isaiah 55:9 that are available at preceptaustin.org, the first of which illustrates the need for repentance:
But you need to do your part.
Your part is to "seek", "call", "forsake", and "return". God’s part is to forgive. The Bible says, (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The idea of "confessing" our sins is to admit that we’ve done wrong. It involves exactly these same things: seeking, calling, forsaking, returning. If we confess our sins, God is faithful, we can count on Him to forgive us. God is also "just" because He doesn’t let us off without the sins being paid for. God knows that you can’t pay for your sins, so He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on a cross and pay for the penalty for your sins.
Illustration - One time the great evangelist D. L. Moody visited a prison called "The Tombs" to preach to the inmates. After he had finished speaking, Moody talked with a number of men in their cells. He asked each prisoner this question, "What brought you here?" Again and again he received replies like this: "I don’t deserve to be here." "I was framed." "I was falsely accused." "I was given an unfair trial." Not one inmate would admit he was guilty. Finally, Moody found a man with his face buried in his hands, weeping. "And what’s wrong, my friend?" he inquired. The prisoner responded, "My sins are more than I can bear." Relieved to find at least one man who would recognize his guilt and his need of forgiveness, the evangelist exclaimed, "Thank God for that!" Moody then had the joy of pointing him to a saving knowledge of Christ—a knowledge that released him from his shackles of sin. God wants to forgive you. (Ps 32:1-6)
What a great story! The major thrust of Isaiah 55:9, though, is that it’s pointless to try to figure God out. Here’s a second beautiful illustration from Cathers:
Another interesting story in the Bible is that of Joseph. I’m sure that during Joseph’s life, he must have wondered what was going on when his brothers sold him into slavery, or when his master’s wife falsely accused him of trying to rape her, or even as he labored in prison, why it seemed that everybody forgot about him. Yet when we get to the end of the story, we see that Joseph had learned that God was working through his difficult circumstances. As Joseph was eventually elevated to being second in all Egypt, and then God used Joseph to end up rescuing his entire family from the destruction of a famine, he could say, (Ge 50:2) You too may have had some difficult things happen to you in your life, and you can’t figure out why God allowed them to happen. Be careful about trying to figure them all out with your limited human understanding. There is a place of rest we can get to when we get to the point where we can say, "You’re God, and You know what You’re doing." Paul writes,(Ro 12:1-2) (that) When you give yourself completely to God and you don’t allow yourself to be shaped by the world, but you allow your mind to be renewed, you will begin to see that God’s will for your life is good, acceptable, and perfect.
(The bold-face emphasis above is mine)
Barb and I have taken part in intercessory prayer for at least four years now, and we many times we are responding to prayer requests from people who are exactly in this frame of mind — “why is God doing this to me?” Sadly, we also sometimes see clues in the prayer requests that show a true lack of soul-searching on the part of the requester — hints about wanting forgiveness from a family member or friend, with no sign of extending forgiveness to that other person first, for example. Sometimes there are obvious signs of a sin-filled life plain as day in the prayer request, yet the person seems to be ignoring that and their need to confess and repent, then asking someone else to pray to God for them when they should be on their knees as well!
I often find myself not praying for whatever it is that the person has requested, as I realize that “God is not a vending machine”. Instead, I pray to God that they search His Word for answers, call out to Him in prayer themselves, praise and thank Him for the blessings they do have but might be unaware of, and that they examine their lives for sin (trust me, it’s there in all of us!). Most of all, though, I pray that they realize that God does love them, that He is not blind to their predicament, and that “He’s workin’ on it!” Don’t get stressed out trying figure out God; He definitely knows what He is doing.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer is from Heartlight.org:
Lord, forgive me for always trying to get You to fulfill MY agenda rather than being submissive to Your ways and methods and Your perfect timing. I usually think I have all the answers I need, but the truth is that I am usually ignorant of what really needs to happen and clueless as to how to make a difference. So I’m asking You today to use me to bring You glory in SPITE of my inability to know what to do or how to help. Lead me on this journey and teach me Your plans along the way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
Precept Austin was accessed on December 11, 2024 for commentary on Isaiah 55:9