“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor 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 higher than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

One of the most important truths we can in our journey of faith is that God is a lot smarter than we are! We spend much of each day figuring out difficult situations and solving problems, and we’re pretty good at it too. We get paid for our ability to analyze things accurately, and we receive praise at home and at work for being “the answer man” or “the answer woman.”

Sooner or later, though, God leads us into some dark alleys where we feel utterly, completely lost. A compliant becomes rebellious, and everything we do makes him or her only more defiant. We feel that we’re losing a son or daughter. Cancer rears it’s ugly head in our own bodies or in the bodies of those we love. We go through cycles of treat and a roller coaster of emotions. We face problems we can’t seem to solve with our in-laws, in our marriages, with money, with money, with our bosses, or with unemployment. We may enter the pit of depression for seemingly no reason at all.

At these moments, we instinctively shake our fists at God and ask why. But few answers come. Sooner or later, we we realize, that, after all, we aren’t God. We can’t figure out what He’s doing because we don’t have His infinite wisdom and complete knowledge. At that moment, all we can do is bow and say, “Lord, You know far more than I do, and Your ways are far higher than mine.” And then, we can rest in Him again.

Zig Ziglar

The last human freedom you and I possess is the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances.

Viktor Frankl

The crux of the matter is whether or not we believe we can trust God. Many of us want to demand that God explain what He’s doing or what He’s allowing to happen in our lives. We see ourselves as a partner with God rather than a child or servant of God. For those of us who are parents, we probably understand the concept of trust better than anyone. Have you ever tried to explain to a small child or a teenager why they have to do certain things but cannot do others? If so you understand that they don’t possess the wisdom you’ve gained from experience. What you’re asking is that they trust your love and care for them, your desire for what’s best for them and that you really do know what’s best. You know the frustration of their mistrust and rebellion.

You’re sad that they refuse to accept advise or instruction and you wish you could make them understand.

This is the exact struggle we have as the children of God. Sin has warped our view of God and Hiss goodness. Sometimes even Christians struggle to believe in the goodness and love of God especially when they are going through a difficult time. They reason- falsely- that if God loved them He would fix the problem, remove the suffering and heal the hurt. But God in His infinite wisdom is building in us something beyond what we can presently see. He knows that if He were to give us every desire and remove every trial that we would grow weak and soon self-destruct. All He asks of us is to trust His wisdom and judgement.

He’s asking us to become like little children who look at their parents as superheroes who save the day. He’s asking us to gaze upon Him with wonder and confident trust even when what we’re facing makes no sense to us. While we can be grateful that God has given us wisdom and knowledge we can use, we must also learn to trust Him when things are beyond our capabilities. We learn from Proverbs that wise people trust in God rather than solely relying on their own wisdom and knowledge. We ask our children to trust us because we’ve experienced life and learned from our share of mistakes about its pitfalls. Our desire is that they can learn from our experiences how to make better choices. Often we forget that God has always been and there is nothing He doesn’t know or hasn’t seen.

We all have learned to consult those who excel in their field of expertise such as doctors, mechanics, plumbers, or electricians. We bring our problems to them trusting their knowledge and abilities. We recognize that sometimes what we thought was the problem isn’t the problem at all and we yield to their judgement. Those of us who were blessed with good, caring parents are realizing how wise they were and we are now finding ourselves applying their wisdom to life.

One of the greatest places to be in life is where we learn to trust God fully with everything. Once we arrive there we truly find perfect peace. In every situation that baffles us, confuses us, or concerns and stresses us, we turn to our Heavenly Father trusting His guidance, His strength, His love, and His help. With whatever you’re facing today, my prayer is you will just come to the throne of grace, make known to a caring God what life has brought, and rest in His love until He intervenes in your life.

You can trust His wisdom, His will and His timing.

Dr. John Thompson