The Lord's ways are not our ways- A peek into the unbelievable!

How many times as Christians have we heard the passage from Isaiah 55:8-9?

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

I decided to use a couple of examples from the Bible to highlight just how God's way are definitely NOT OUR WAYS!  In fact, when I read through them I would typically think to myself "Why did it have to be that way at all, you God and I'm sure it could've been done a different way!"  Would He be God if He was so predictable and we could easily figure Him out?  Would we choose His way or ours?  Would we choose to have faith?

Hosea 1:2- God commands Hosea the prophet to take a prostitute for a wife.

Jonah 1:17- God has a giant fish swallow Jonah to take him to Nineveh.

Ezekiel 4:1-8- God has Ezekiel lie on his left side w/o moving for over a year and on his right side 40 days.

Joshua 6:1-20- Joshua and the children of Israel march around walls of Jericho for 7 days and cause the walls to fall.

Genesis 22:1-13- God asks Abraham to offer His son as a sacrifice.

And finally

1 Peter 21-25: Jesus dies on the cross for our sins.

This last example is but a highlight of the Word (Jesus) referenced in the whole Bible that points to His coming, death on the cross, and resurrection to everlasting life along with why He was sent and did what He did; to offer us salvation through Him (John 3:16). 

Own up to it!

I hear from Christians all the time that they are going through a season like Job or Joseph when they are suffering.  It seems that they always tend to look at their suffering as something that's happening to them, it's unfair, it sucks, and it is out of their control. 

When is the last time you heard any Christian say "I'm complaining like Job?" or "I'm being disobedient like Jonah" or even "I am acting like Jacob and God needs to change me."

This is another flaw, and sin, in that just like Adam and Eve in the Garden, it's not our fault and our suffering is a result of unfair situations.  It's during these times that God uses these situations to bring around a change in our lives.  I am not saying that every time we suffer it is because we have an issue but instead trying to make aware to all that we should look at our suffering and ourselves honestly to see what is really going on.

Kyle