God’s Ways
This week I would like to remind us all of a fundamental principle in our relationship with God: His ways are not usually like our ways; His ways are higher than our ways. Keeping this fact constantly in mind elevates us. Losing sight of it lowers us. With the correct biblical perspective we are better able to navigate the stormy and often unfathomable seas of the day. Implicit in the situation I am sketching is the fundamental question of whether or not we are trusting in God. Trusting in God is trusting in God’s ways. This is a study that is really about how we think, and in particular how we often think wrongly, about God.
When all the dimensions are considered, there is little difference between God’s will and God’s ways. Each points toward the other. Someone has said, in attempting to make a distinction, God’s will focuses on what He does; God’s ways focus on who He is. I’m not sure about that. God’s will and God’s ways are probably best described as two sides of the same coin.
This exceedingly self-centered society in which we live ceaselessly, methodically conditions us to think that life is supposed to look exactly the way we would like it to look. “Be all you imagine you can be.” “You can live your dreams.” “What you can conceive, you can receive.” Society tells us to shape our lives as we desire. Society tells us that everything in life is there for our personal pleasure.
This self-indulgent way is totally contrary to God’s way. And when that false image is not fulfilled, society tells you that you have a right to complain. When things don’t go the way we wrongly think they should go, we become frustrated, unhappy, sometimes violent, and usually blame God. Even Christians, who should know better, are guilty of this. Such thinking is nothing less than deranged thinking. It is wrong thinking. Wrong thinking produces wrong behavior.
Four ways we wrongly think God works:
1 – Always (God will always act)
2 – Fast (God will always act immediately, or if not immediately, on demand)
3 – Big (God will always act in big, dramatic ways)
4 – Painlessly (Under no conditions are we willing to suffer)
These ways, of course, are both unrealistic and unscriptural. Most us probably know better, yet we persist in this mentality anyway. And then when God doesn’t act the way we think He should, even though we shouldn’t we often get bummed out. Some get discouraged. And sometimes we even allow bitterness toward God to fill our hearts. Therefore, it would help us immensely if we align our perception of God’s ways with God’s actual ways. Let us consider in this blog God’s ways, and as we do, let us consider our ways in comparison.
The first thing we need to understand is that God ways are not our ways:
NAS Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
And, likewise, the second basic thing to understand is that His ways are higher than our ways:
NAS Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
We hear that. Many of us know that already. It registers somewhere in our consciousness, yet we somehow refuse to remember that. Especially when life gets hard or befuddling. If we truly believed those words from the Bible and firmly kept them in minds, we would be less likely to question God and experience disappointment in our relationship with Him.
God is God; man is man and woman is woman. While He has made man in His image, and while He identifies with man and encourages man to identify with Him, there is, nevertheless, a vast difference between God and man. Speaking of Isaiah’s words, Motyer wrote:
“The Lord is completely different from humans in what and how He thinks and in His characteristic ways of action. This is a verse of very wide application, covering every aspect of life. It cancels the useless and debilitating question ‘Why?’ in face of life’s difficulties; it opens the door to the blessed reality of faith in a God who is truly God.”
The commentator goes on to say, “How much higher is the heavenly realm than the earth realm? The answer is ‘immeasurably.’ In relation to any who question the Lord, this comparison cultivates a due humility.”
Consider the difference between men and women, to illustrate the point. We think differently, we see things differently, we react to situations differently. We might honestly say in most things the difference is so extreme and consistent we’re opposites. Mankind and God are even more different. The way God thinks about almost every situation will be different than the way you and I tend to view it.
And yet, because of our salvation, there is thankfully another dimension in this equation.
NAS 1 Corinthians 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
If you’re saved, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within and possess the ability to comprehend God’s ways. Yes, God’s ways are higher than our ways, but that does not mean we cannot know God’s ways and at least partially understand them. Nor does that fact release us from the responsibility of obeying them. But that is slightly off point and the subject for another blog….
Another important note is the time element. As we have already pointed out, we expect God to act immediately. In the manifesting of the ways of God, God will often take a lot longer than we would like or even imagine. This is frustrating, especially to those of us not mature in Christ. We do well to remember this world runs according to God’s time, not ours.
But an even more important thought – certainly more bolstering realization – to ponder is this: What peace there is in knowing that God’s ways are higher than or ways! We can take great comfort in knowing that God sees beyond our ability to see and that He controls all events and orders them in such a way that it is to our benefit and for His glory.
And God’s ways are just:
NAS Daniel 4:37 “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
That is so important for us to for us to consider and appreciate. Many people think God is unfair. “Why did God do this to me?” “I’m not getting what I deserve…” “Someone else is getting more than me.” But these thoughts are wrong. All God’s ways are just:
NAS Hosea 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them.
“Right” and “just” come from the same Hebrew word (and “righteous: too). The same as in the New Testament and Greek.
“Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the potter, I am the clay! Mold me and make me After Thy will, While I am waiting, Yielded and still.”
We should recognize the superiority of God’s ways and obediently follow them everyday of our lives! Consider the importance the Bible places upon following God’s ways:
NKJ Deuteronomy 5:33 “You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
The verse was meant originally for the nation of Israel, yet nevertheless has relevance for us today, for it tell us as believers we are to walk (i.e., live) in God’s ways. The command is repeated for emphasis in 8:6:
NAS Deuteronomy 8:6 “Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.
And again in 10:12:
NAS Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
Think if we really lived everyday like that! We would hardly question God’s fairness.
ESV Deuteronomy 26:17 You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice.
Now, again, please keep in mind this is an O.T. passage. Yet, cannot the principle be carefully applied to our individual lives as Christians with God? I believe we can. We always want to be careful to remember the church is not Israel, and the majority of O.T. commands are not intended for the church, but not all. Some especially in the Psalms and Proverbs may simply be applied universally to the believer in God, whether he be a believing Jew or a Christian. There are universal principles of God that transcend both Testaments; but one example: the principle of holiness:
ESV Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
NAS 1 Peter 1:15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
Whether we be a believing Jews or a Christian, we are commanded in Scripture to be holy.
A preacher once said that Americans are afflicted by “I-F-D” disease. This is the curable but epidemic disease of “never enough”:
- “I” = Idealization – We make impossible demands on life and ourselves. This leads to “F”…
- “F” = Frustration – We can’t measure up to the impossible demands. This in turn leads to frustration that then leads to “D”…
- “D” = Despair – That is what marks millions and millions of people today…
Peace with God is the only cure for “I-F-D” disease. The “I-F-D” disease is a good example of wrong thinking, of wrong perspective. It is sad to say that observably many Christians – many of whom should know better – suffer from “I-F-D” disease.
Most Christians also suffer from two other related problems:
(1.) Because they do not know their Bibles, they do not know God’s ways, and not knowing God’s ways…
(2.) They are then imprisoned by their own ways.
“I Did It My Way” – Can’t help it. I know this has been used too many times too long by speakers and writers to make the same point I am making, but the old Frank Sinatra song could easily be the anthem of defiant mankind:
ESV Isaiah 66:3 …These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations;
Perhaps the greatest roadblock in the way of understanding God’s ways and living according to them is the sad fact that He is not at the center of our lives…
Rather, we are the center of our lives… Mankind needs to change its ways…
Many Christians need to change their ways…
NAS Psalm 119:59 I considered my ways, And turned my feet to Thy testimonies. Gd wants us to examine ourselves as He examines us…
NAS Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
ESV 1 Corinthians 11:28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
NKJ Jeremiah 7:23 “But this is what I commanded them, saying,`Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’
NAS Psalm 119:5 Oh that my ways may be established To keep Thy statutes!
NAS Acts 2:28 ‘Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou wilt make me full of gladness with Thy presence.’
Isn’t it curious how the current events of our lives come and go without any meaningful discussion of God’s ways? People commonly, confidently clamor to voice their personal opinions, their ways. If we not careful, we can get caught up in the surge and form opinions and sometimes even take action without ever considering God’s ways.
ESV Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
In all our ways we must remember that His ways are higher than our ways. Our spiritual stability depends in great part upon our perspective of God and His ways. It is no exaggeration to say how we see God determines how we react in every circumstance of life. Our spiritual stability is directly tied to our image of God, how we think about God, and how we understand His ways. It’s not so much how you see yourself, not so much how you see your circumstances that really matters; it’s how you think about God that determines your spiritual stability. We will never go astray by obeying God’s ways,
NAS Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
