Trusting a God We Cannot Understand - Himalayan Heights – May 18 Readings: Super 7 – Isaiah 55:8-9

 Super 7 - Key Scriptures for All Christians

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Isaiah 55:8-9

The "Super 7" refers to 7 passages I consider formative in my Bible Study and Christian life. They are taken from both the Old Testament and the New, various sources and various subjects.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Through the Bible Readings: 1 Kings 1-2, John 3:16–36, Psalm 64:1–4, Proverbs 13:9-10

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Trusting a God We Cannot Understand    

When we had a dog, I often tried to communicate with him. Sit. Stay. Stop yapping. He could understand some of what I was saying, but he could not understand me, my intents or my plans. Why? Because I am human and he was a dog. My intelligence (let's ignore the jokes here, folks) is higher than his. A dog can grasp some part of what I say, but he is not capable of knowing me.

You may not like where this is going, my trend. God has an intelligence that is far beyond ours. That's right. We are the dogs in this illustration. God has revealed much of himself to us, but only that part which we can grasp. His intellect is infinitely greater than ours. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us that God has thoughts that are higher than ours and ways that go beyond anything that we can imagine.

That is why it is such hubris when we try to tell God what he should do, or complain about what is happening as if we know what should be going on. From the moment God spoke this world into creation he has been working out his glorious plan to exalt Christ, redeem souls, and conform us to Christ. He has purposes we cannot fathom and plans that would explode our minds.

God is not the author of sin but he uses it to accomplish his eternal purposes. You may come to a point where you simply despair to know why God is allowing the things that are happening to you. You question his love or his goodness or the wisdom of his sovereign plan. But he knows what you do not. His ways are beyond your understanding. We have to trust him, even when we cannot understand his dealings.

There are many doctrines of Scripture that boggle our minds. How can God be one God, but exist eternally in three persons? The Father is God. Jesus is God. The Spirit is God. Each is a separate person. Yet there is only one God. Every explanation you can possibly give of that in human terms is some form of heresy! How could Jesus be 100% God and 100% man at the same time? He was not half-god and half-man, but fully both. How can that be? How can God be sovereign over the affairs of this world and yet we are still responsible for our choices? These are beyond our human understanding - they defy human logic.

God, though, has a mind greater than ours. Somehow, in a way we cannot understand, God is absolutely sovereign without violating our responsibility, God is both three and one, and Jesus was both human and divine.

Do you really want a God you can understand? Do you want a God whose ways and thoughts are no greater than yours? Of course not. We want, and need, a God who is wiser than we are and greater than we can imagine. He is a God you can trust. When he baffles you, you can trust him. When you don't understand what he is doing, you can trust him. When you think the world is spinning out of control, you can still trust God and his plan.

Thank you, Father, for being a God I can trust, even when I do not understand what you are doing. You are wiser and your ways are grander than mine, and I accept my role - you rule the world and I will trust in you. 

Think and Pray:

What is it that God has done that confuses you?
Are there biblical truths you struggle to understand?
Remind yourself that your role is not always to understand God, but to trust him!