Outside the Box

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “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 NIV

If I had a dollar for ever time I’ve thought “I wish there was a manual for this”, I’d be a millionaire; and isn’t this the way I treat my relationship with God all too often, like there should be a pamphlet that completely describes His plans and His ways to me?

There is nothing wrong with the desire for clear directions from Him, but I get into trouble when I expect Him to fit in a box that I can file away on a shelf for later reference – if I can remember where I put it. When I treat my relationship with God like this, I am acting like I am in control, which is really quite laughable when I stop to think about it. He has given us the Bible to tell us who He is and what He has done for us, but there are still a number of things about Him that are a mystery.

He is the creator of a universe that is orderly and systematic to the deepest level, but that doesn’t mean that He can be categorized along with His creation; on the contrary, the creator of such an awesome thing cannot be anything but above it all. Our God knows no bounds, and there is nothing that can hold Him back; He is not predictable or methodical in His ways, and we will never know everything about any one aspect of him or the way He operates.

There are no words in the language of men to describe Him; there are no words to adequately describe His love for me; there are no words to describe the depth of my gratitude to Him for creating, saving and sustaining me; and, there are no words to adequately describe the glories of Heaven where I will spend eternity with Him.