Daily Verse Devo - Isaiah 55:8-9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

-Isaiah 55:8-9

In this chapter, God is inviting His people to come to Him. Instead of settling for food that must be bought and doesn't fully satisfy, God urges them to feast on His word. This is reminiscent of when Jesus talks about being the Bread of Life and Living Water.

While the first part of this chapter has excellent imagery, I chose to focus on verses 8-9 because of their honest confession.

Being a Christian doesn't mean that you'll fully understand God's ways. We're limited by gravity, time, and other factors on earth, and God isn't. Our outlook on when or what should happen can't even begin to compare to God's.

I love to write stories and being an author gives me a tiny glimpse into God's perspective as our Author. My characters are trapped inside their world, their time, in the pages that I write of their lives. They can think and dream as far as they'd like, but their perspective will never be exactly like mine. While they're stuck in the moment, dealing with their life, I already know how the story will end.

The same is true for our lives. God knows every detail and is writing a beautiful story, even if we're in the midst of a trial. I think it's okay to admit that our ways aren't God's ways, as long as we know His are best.

I'll never forget the story of a motivational speaker that came to our elementary school once. She was telling the kids that they could be anything they wanted to be. One boy replied, "Well, I can't be a helicopter."

That is true...

When I was twelve, I wanted to be on Adventures in Odyssey more than anything. I had a major crush on one of the voice talents and there was a "Get in the Show" contest going on. I planned to move out to Colorado and marry this actor when I was old enough.

That didn't happen.

At thirteen and fourteen, my dream shifted. I wanted to be a famous Christian singer and tour all over the country. I had written over a hundred songs and sent my "resume" to an industry professional.

That didn't happen either.

It's not that these dreams were bad, but they weren't a part of God's plan in the way I was expecting. Now my dreams have changed again and I'm glad I didn't rise to fame then (although I would still love to be on Odyssey or release some albums). God had a plan for me to be right here right now.

God has a plan for your life too.

Did you have any dreams like that, ones you wanted more than anything, but eventually were grateful that God had other plans?

I'm thankful that God's ways are above ours. His plans go beyond the moment. He sees eternity and has a beautiful story He's writing for us.

#plans #Godsways