God’s Thoughts

Isaiah 55:8-9 reads, “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.” 

Since our ways are so different from God’s, many things will not make sense in life. Sometimes we have no choice but to trust the Lord (Prov. 3:5). This is easier said than done, and we will be tempted to trust our instincts rather than yield to God’s will. But we must resist the temptation to go our own way. The right path is not in ourselves (Jer. 10:23), and at the end of the road that seems right to us death awaits (Prov. 14:12).  

An old preacher’s tale recalls a magnificent diamond found in an African mine. It was reportedly presented to the king of England to decorate his crown of state. The king sent it to Amsterdam to be cut by an expert stonecutter. The stonecutter cut a notch in it and then he struck it one hard time with his hammer, causing it to fall into his hand in two halves. Was he reckless?  Wasteful? Careless?  Actually, that one blow with the hammer had been studied and planned for days, even weeks. Drawings and models had been made. The quality, defects, and possible lines along which it would split had been investigated to the smallest detail. So the blow was no mistake.  When the stonecutter struck, he brought the diamond from a primitive form to perfection, radiance, and jeweled splendor.  

In the same way, God sometimes allows a stinging blow to strike your life. It may seem as absurd as taking a hammer to a priceless diamond and smashing it into bits.  But God is the most skilled stonecutter in the universe.  He knows what is best.  Even when things don’t make sense, especially then, we have to trust Him.

Drew Kizer