Stop twisting God's thoughts and ways
How often do we use verses snatched from their context to explain something. God is love and loves all including you.
Have you ever thought about the thoughts of God? How many times has a friend judged or condemned you by saying,
“Well, we do not understand God, you know,”
“His thoughts are higher, and though it may seem like your cancer, your credit problems, or the chaos you are enduring is terrible, but God doesn’t think like we do.“
Did you ever get the context for these verses? We frequently distort God’s words by taking them out of context and then using them to explain our frustration with a seemingly uncaring God. Nothing could be further from the truth. We end up judging God.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 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.
Context
Before the text, Isaiah 55:1-7
Get the contract with me. It goes something like this: God calls all out to a world defined by scarcity and transaction, especially those feeling empty and financially broke, to come and buy without paying. Own it with no expense to yourself.
You may be penniless and destitute, but come anyway, buy and eat. By the staples and the luxury without price, no cost to you. Come get the best and stop living in empty pleasures and hollow pursuits.
No one else will offer such a thing. You can turn from what is hurting, destroying, and killing you. Give up your evil thought patterns. The door is open, and the path is clear to return to God, who is merciful and will lavish you with forgiveness.
God, the great I AM, will forgive those the religious would never forgive and no one else will ever forgive. He turns the world upside down and freely gives away the most expensive. His love extends to those who are unworthy. God transforms those who knew it could never happen for them.
After the text Isaiah 55:10-13
We can’t comprehend God’s love and forgiveness. God operates on a different plane than us.
God’s Word comes forth with intentions, just like the rain that falls from the sky. It accomplishes its purpose. Men make empty promises and rambling rhetoric, but God never lies, and His Word and Words always come true.
We see only flaws and imperfections, but God sees potential for impressive growth. God doesn’t love us for who we are; He loves us because of who He is. His love is not conditional and not based on merit.
Humans say,
“I will forgive you under these conditions.”
“If you change, I will forgive you.”
“If you do the following, I will forgive you.”
“I will not forget what you have done, and things can’t be as good as before, but I forgive you.”
God doesn’t even think like that. His forgiveness is unconditional, and his restoration is total and complete. Unlike a human, he harbors no resentment. He keeps no score. He turns the wilderness into a paradise.
We burst with joy because he leads us into a whole and complete life. There is no lingering tension, just an exuberant celebration. Nature even gets happy with this forgiveness.
God builds monuments from the testimonies of lives that He transforms with His love and forgiveness. God’s way is different no He sees us. His love and forgiveness are not condition-based. He not only forgives us, but completely accepts us. God makes us new creatures.
Application
All of the above is based on what the verses say. The entire chapter is about how God thinks. God’s thinking and acting are so different from anything we can understand. He is a good, unchanging God of love.
These verses are not about God hurting you or allowing you to be hurt because He doesn’t think like you. In the context, He is forgiving and helping society’s rejects. He does what no other would do.
The application is that we do not understand God, His love, His grace, and His mercy. It is impossible to grasp that someone could be so good, but God is good.
The marvel is not that we love God, but that He loved us first. Can you believe it? When we didn’t love Him, He loved us and made us His children.
So the application is that you would rejoice in His forgiveness. That His love would bless you and that both His love and forgiveness would flow through you.